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06/11/2012DES PLAINES PLAN COMMISSION June 11, 2012 MINUTES DES PLAINES ILLINOIS The Des Plaines Plan Commission held its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, June 11, 2012, at 7:00 P.M., in Room 102, City Council Chambers, of the Des Plaines Civic Center. PLAN COMMISSION PRESENT: Bar, Lane, Yi ABSENT: Niemotka, Perez Also present was Senior Planner, Scott Mangum, Department of Community and Economic Development. Acting Chairman Bar called the meeting to order at 7:09 P.M. Commissioner Yi said the May 14, 2012 minutes were excellent and wished to commend the note -taker. A motion was made by Commissioner Lane seconded by Commissioner Yi to table the minutes of the May 14, 2012, hearings as submitted. AYES: Bar, Lane, Yi NAYES: None MOTION CARRIED NEW BUSINESS Acting Chairman Bar read a summary of the matter on the Agenda: Case Number 12-031-TA Address: Citywide Request: The petitioner is requesting a Text Amendment to the City of Des Plaines 1998 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, amending Table 7.3.1, Commercial Districts Use Matrix, to allow for Trade Contractors as a Conditional Use in the C-3, General Commercial District. Petitioner: Michael J. VanSlambrouck 16 Mary Street Des Plaines, IL 60016 Petitioner VanSlambrouck was sworn in. Petitioner introduced himself and said he put forth the text amendment to bring in a tenant that is an electrical supply company to an industrial area. He said in prior years the industrial area had been an M-1 zoned area but had changed to a C-2. He said across the street is an M-1 zoned area. He stressed how industrial the area is. He said he had previously requested to change the area to a C-3 zoned area. According to Petitioner, as it stands, he has already had to deny occupancy to two trade contractors. He told a story of a plumber that wanted to become a tenant of Petitioner's building but could not because of the current zoning. His particular building has a vacancy and he wants to fill it. The vacancy in his building is only a few thousand square feet and he said there are not a whole lot Case #12-031-TA Page 2 of vacancies like that out there. He understood that there are issues of black and white but felt that this particular issue was somewhat grey and the Plan Commission could use its judgment. Commissioner Yi asked what a trade contractor was. Mr. Mangum gave the code definition of a trade contractor supplied in the staff report. Commissioner Yi asked if Petitioner would be a trade contractor. Mr. Mangum said the potential businesses Petitioner is describing, a plumber and general construction contractor, would be considered trade contractors. Commissioner Yi asked if Petitioner could ask for approval for just a singular piece of property rather than a text am endm ent. Mr. Mangum said unfortunately no. The text amendment as requested would affect all C-3 zoned properties within the City of Des Plaines. Commissioner Yi asked Mr. Mangum how the Board could go about approving Petitioner's request without affecting the entire City of Des Plaines. Mr. Mangum said there were two options: (1) Request a change of zoning to the property, or (2) Change the text of the ordinance. Commissioner Yi asked Petitioner if he understood what he would have to do to possibly get this approved. Petitioner said yes. He understood there are a lot of hurdles and he wanted to be up front about everything and work within the confines of the City ordinances. Acting Chairman Bar asked Mr. Mangum if each subsequent tenant would have to come before the Commission. Mr. Mangum said a trade contractor use would require a conditional use permit within the zoning district. Generally, if a tenant were to be replaced by a subsequent tenant that wished to use the property in the same manner, he would not have to come before the Commission again. Conditional uses run with the land. Commissioner Yi told Petitioner the Commission is looking for a way to approve his request but Petitioner would have to go through more hurdles. Commissioner Yi asked Petitioner if he would be willing to do that. Petitioner said he would be willing to. Commissioner Yi told Petitioner that the Plan Commission is here to help him and asked if he would be willing to do what the Board recommends. Petitioner said yes and asked what he would need to do. Commissioner Yi said Mr. Mangum could say more about that. Acting Chairman Bar asked Mr. Mangum to read the applicable staff report into record, as follows: Issue: Text Amendment to the City of Des Plaines 1998 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, amending Table 7.3.1, Commercial Districts Use Matrix, to allow for Trade Contractors as a Conditional Use in the C-3, General Commercial District. Analysis: Text Amendment Report Petitioner: Michael J. VanSlambrouck, 16 Mary Street, Des Plaines, IL 60016 Address: Citywide Case Number: 12-031-TA Background Information Case #12-031-TA Page 3 The applicant is requesting the text amendment in order to allow Trade Contractors as a conditional use within C-3, General Commercial zoned areas of the City. The Zoning Ordinance defines a Trade Contractor as "A building or portion thereof where building and construction trade services are provided to the public. "Trade Contractor" shall include, but will not be limited to, contractor offices, including landscaper's showrooms, construction supplies and storage including plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and building equipment, materials, sales, and other uses similar in nature and impact." The proposed text amendment (see attachment 3) would amend the Commercial Districts Use Matrix (Table 7.3.1) by adding "Trade Contractors" as a Conditional Use within the C-3 District. Trade Contractors are currently permitted by right within the M-1, Light Manufacturing, and M-2, General Manufacturing Districts, but are prohibited in all other Zoning Districts. If the amendment is approved by the City Council as proposed, any Trade Contractors would be required to apply for a Conditional Use Permit that would be considered on a case -by -case basis with the ability to attach conditions to mitigate potential impacts. To properly evaluate the text amendment request, the standards below, which are contained in Section 3.7-5 of the Zoning Ordinance, must be employed. Following is a discussion of those standards: A. Whether the proposed amendments are consistent with the goals, objectives and policies contained in the Comprehensive Plan: Comment: The City of Des Plaines Comprehensive Plan, adopted by the City Council in 2007, does not specifically address the proposed use. However, goals of the Comprehensive plan include strengthening the City's existing commercial areas along with encouraging the concentration of industrial uses in the City's southwest area. The Trade Contractor use is currently considered an industrial use in the zoning ordinance and permitted in the M-1 and M-2 Zoning Districts which are concentrated in the southwest portion of the City. B. Whether the proposed amendments are compatible with the current conditions and the overall character of existing developments in the immediate area: Comment: The Zoning Ordinance states that the purpose of the C-3 General Commercial District is to accommodate a variety of businesses in locations to serve the community of Des Plaines. The proposed use can be considered more intensive than many commercial uses due to the frequent use of heavy vehicles and equipment, and often the storage of materials. C. Whether the amendments are appropriate considering the adequacy of public facilities and services available to the property: Comment: The proposed amendment to allow Trade Contractors as a conditional use should not have a direct affect on public facilities or services. While contractor's vehicles and equipment may be larger than those used in typical commercial uses, it is not anticipated that additional public facilities or services would be required. As a conditional use, adequacy of public facilities and potential impacts such as traffic could be evaluated on a case by case basis. D. Whether the proposed amendments will have an adverse effect on the value of properties throughout the jurisdiction: Comment: The proposed amendment would allow an additional land use for properties within the C-3, General Commercial Zoning District. However, this more intense use may be in conflict with more traditional retail or office type of commercial development and could have a negative impact on property values due to the visibility of trade contractor's vehicles, equipment, and materials. E. Whether the proposed amendments reflects responsible standards for development and growth: Comment: This zoning text amendment does not appear to conflict with the City's Comprehensive Plan, the official policy guide to future land use, development, and conservation with the community. Therefore, the proposed text Case #12-031-TA Page 4 amendment would not appear to be in conflict with responsible standards for development and growth. The proposed change would not be anticipated to generate a significant amount of development and growth in the City. Recommendation: Based on the above analysis, the Community and Economic Development Department recommends denial of the requested text amendment regarding Trade Contractors. The C-3, General Commercial Zoning District is most prevalent commercial district within the City and should maintain a commercial character. Trade Contractors uses have the potential to degrade the commercial character of these areas due to the industrial nature of the businesses including the use of larger vehicles and equipment, and often storage of materials. Plan Commission Procedure: Under Section 3.7-4 of the Zoning Ordinance (Amendments) the Plan Commission may vote to recommend approval, approval with modifications, or disapproval. The City Council has the final authority on Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance. Acting Chairman Bar asked Mr. Mangum if there was a way to have a conditional use on a tenant -by -tenant basis. Mr. Mangum said generally a conditional use runs with the land and there is an ability to put conditions on it. Acting Chairman Bar said his concem is that the property is leased to a plumbing contractor, which would be fine in Acting Chairman Bar's eyes, but then he leaves and the property is leased to a landscaper. He is concemed then that the landscaper would have excess garbage that would just sit by the dumpsters and might offend the other tenants. He said if it was a conditional use by a tenant -by -tenant basis, each tenant would have to come before the Plan Commission and then each use could be decided upon. Commissioner Lane said she has a problem with the City's definition of "trade". She said it is overly broad. Mr. Mangum agreed the definition is fairly broad. He noted that there have been instances within the City where a company that is involved in the trades but only wants to operate an office with a receptionist and sales staff present and clearly states on their application that there will be no storage of materials, trucks, or heavy machinery have been approved in commercial areas as an office use. He said where the staff has concems is where they operate as a trade contractor. Petitioner said as a property owner it is his job also to make sure there is a fairly good match between a tenant and the facility. He understands that the result of this issue impacts the whole City, but he must operate under the ordinances. Acting Chairman Bar said if Petitioner's property could be singled out there would not be a problem. The problem is that it would apply to all of Des Plaines. He said he wishes there was a way the Commission could single this property out because he thinks it would be a good fit. Commissioner Yi agreed with Acting Chairman Bar. Petitioner said he recognizes that this is not a black and white issue. He then thanked the Commission. Commissioner Lane said she could see a situation like this coming up again and wished the word "trade" as defined by the City of Des Plaines could be narrowed. A motion was made by Commissioner Lane seconded by Commissioner Yi to deny recommendation of a Text Amendment to the City of Des Plaines 1998 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, amending Table 7.3.1, Commercial Districts Use Matrix, to allow for Trade Contractors as a Conditional Use in the C-3, General Commercial District. AYES: Lane NAYES: Bar, Yi MOTION FAILED Case #12-031-TA Page 5 A motion was made by Commissioner Yi seconded by Commissioner Lane to recommend approval of a Text Amendment to the City of Des Plaines 1998 Zoning Ordinance, as amended, amending Table 7.3.1, Commercial Districts Use Matrix, to allow for Trade Contractors as a Conditional Use in the C-3, General Commercial District. AYES: Bar, Yi NAYES: Lane MOTION CARRIED The meeting was adjoumed at 7:46p.m. by unanimous voice vote. Sincerely, RobertNiemotka, Chairman Des Plaines Plan Commission cc: City Officials Aldermen Plan Commission Petitioner