McHenry Times

City of Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission met Sept. 15.

Here are the minutes provided by the Commission:

The meeting was called to order by Mr. Greenman at 7:00 p.m.

Mr. Greenman called the meeting to order. On roll call, members Atkinson, Gronow, Jouron, Repholz Skluzacek and Greenman were present.

Kathryn Cowlin, Director of Community Development, Elizabeth Maxwell, City Planner, and Katie Rivard, Assistant City Planner were present from Staff.

Mr. Greenman said this meeting is being recorded for broadcast and future playback on the City’s cable channel. He led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVE MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 1, 2021 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION MEETING

Mr. Skluzacek moved to approve the minutes from the September 1, 2021 regular Planning and Zoning Commission meeting as presented. Mr. Gronow seconded the motion. On roll call, members Atkinson, Gronow, Jouron, Repholz and Skluzacek voted aye. Greenman abstained. Motion passed.

2021-1567 551 CONGRESS PARKWAY – CONCEPTUAL PUD – PUBLIC MEETING

Conceptual Planned Unit Development discussion regarding a potential 144-unit apartment development.

Paul Swanson, with Paul Swanson Architects, petitioner, was present to represent the request.

Mr. Swanson stated he likes the property due to its proximity to the train station. Residents would be able to walk to the train station and to the other services in the area. The three buildings are around a center courtyard. He spoke with the representatives of the business park and they were okay with residential zoning. He plans to reduce the total number of units to 142 to allow for a workout room and party room. He can work with staff to alter the architecture with more projections.

Mr. Greenman asked if they wanted to table the discussion on the elevations since the petitioner was willing to work with staff to make changes. Everyone agreed.

Staff presented the information. The parcel requires a rezoning from manufacturing to residential. Ms. Rivard also went through the details of the site plan, architecture and some of the variations that may be necessary from the code.

Mr. Skluzacek was on the fence for the rezoning. There is already residential in the area. The density is too high.

Mr. Gronow stated that a project like this was needed in the community. The rezoning seems okay as there are other residential developments in the business park that work well. The density seems too high, this should be lowered and the applicant can fix the other issues.

Mr. Swanson stated he has alternative plans with lower density he can present to the commission.

Mr. Atkinson said he also struggles with the density. He is okay with adding more residential in the area if the site plan and architecture can be upgraded and match what is being charged for rent.

Ms. Repholz spoke about the redevelopment opportunity examples illustrated in the Transit Oriented Development Plan, the Crystal Lake & Pingree Road Metra Stations Strategic Action Plan. Crystal Lake will benefit from more housing and more diverse housing. It is a positive that you can walk to the train station.

Mr. Jouron noted the density was too high. He stated that the basis of a PUD was to go above and beyond the code and not to ask for variations. There needs to be a tradeoff. He likes the architecture, but not the color yellow.

Mr. Greenman said he does not feel this is the right land use for this location. This is a business park and was designed as such when the infrastructure was being planned out. Even though the project is close to the train station many people will use private vehicles and not walk nor use the train. In looking at a possible revised plan shown to the commission by the petitioner, Mr. Greenman said that it is still not the best design or location since this is a very busy roadway and any new addition of traffic will be hard to accommodate. The 90-unit plan has a lot more green space and amenities. He wants the project to be a win-win for the developer and the community.

Mr. Gronow said it would be good to reduce the density. They need to have the infrastructure question answered.

Ms. Repholz said she could approve some variations to allow a project like this in this location. Mr. Swanson thanked them for their time and feedback on the project.

COMMISSION TRAINING

Staff presented big picture ideas about density. Showing what are appropriate densities for various project types and for locations around the City.

Mr. Greenman asked about what is sense of place and purpose of an area. They do not want to define the future one parcel at a time. They should step back and look at how properties relate to the larger area.

Mr. Jouron said they used to look at how things impacted the schools.

Mr. Gronow said it is good to look at those other factors not just the density number.

Mr. Greenman like the criteria in the presentation and said that would be helpful to the Commission when they are evaluating these projects.

REPORT FROM PLANNING

Ms. Maxwell provided an update on the items recently reviewed by City Council, and noted the items that are scheduled for the upcoming PZC meeting.

COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION

Mr. Greenman said it would be good to have more regular training like the Land Use and Zoning Training and Traffic Study Training. Other members agreed that information on how traffic studies are done and what data they look at would be very helpful.

Mr. Jouron made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Skluzacek seconded the motion. On voice vote, all members voted aye. The meeting was adjourned 8:04 p.m.

https://ecode360.com/documents/CR2206/public/626003189.pdf