Idea Transcript
SYCAMORE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA October 16, 2017
CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE MEETINGS No Committee Meetings are Scheduled
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING 7:00 P.M. 1.
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
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INVOCATION
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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by North Grove School Early Act Officers Conor Grubbs, Landon Taylor, Logan Person, Kylie Walsh, Peyton Wright, and Grace Follman.
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APPROVAL OF AGENDA
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APPOINTMENTS
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AUDIENCE TO VISITORS
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CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of October 2, 2017. B. Plan Commission Meeting Minutes from September 11, 2017. C. Payment of the Bills for October 16, 2017.
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PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS
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REPORTS OF OFFICERS
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REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
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PUBLIC HEARINGS
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ORDINANCES
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A. Ordinance 2017.11—An Ordinance Regarding a Plan Commission Recommendation to Deny a Request by Gardner Capital, on Behalf of the Property Owners, Rymax, LLC, to Re-zone the Property at 1101 Hathaway Drive, from C-4, Mixed Use, to R-3, Multi-Family Residential in the City of Sycamore, Illinois. First and Second Reading. REQUEST FOR RE-ZONING The petitioner, Gardner Capital Development, on behalf of Rymax LLC, is requesting a zoning map amendment that would re-zone the approximately 4.64-acre property located at 1101 Hathaway Drive from C-4, Mixed Use to R-3, Multi-Family. The concept was presented as a workshop item in June to gather initial feedback from the Plan Commission. The City’s Unified Development Ordinance requires the Plan Commission to hold a public hearing, review the proposed amendment, the staff report (noted herein), and any oral and written comments received by the Plan Commission before or at the public hearing or otherwise made as part of the record of the Plan Commission on application. A public hearing was held on September 11th and continued to October 9th to ensure appropriate public notice after several residents within 500 feet of the property voiced concerns that they did not receive the City’s mailing. PROPERTY HISTORY At the June Plan Commission workshop, it was suggested that similar requests were made for this property in the past. As a way of background, the following timeline provides a brief history of the property: 1992-The property is platted as Lot 5 in the Farm and Fleet Subdivision and is zoned C-3, Highway Business. 2003-A concept plan to re-zone the property from C-3, Highway Business to R-3, Multi-Family Residential in order to develop the parcel for townhomes is presented to the Plan Commission. The feedback from the Plan Commission includes a preference to see the site remain commercial. A similar plan was presented in April 2004 and according to City records the two key concerns were that the rezoning would result in the loss of commercially-zoned land and that the townhouse development appeared rather dense (8.7 units per acre), although two different multi-family subdivisions had been developed to the east of the property. 2005-The Plan Commission voted 8-2 to favorably recommend a concept plan that would rezone the property from C-3, Highway Business to C-4, Mixed Use. The plan was approved with 13 commercial condominiums facing west and 28 townhomes east of the commercial condominiums. 2017-A workshop item to consider a concept by Gardner Capital Development was held at the Plan Commission in June. A request for rezoning from C-4, Mixed Use to R-3,
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Multifamily zoning is submitted. A Public Hearing was held on September 11 th and continued on October 9th. PLAN DETAILS Gardner Capital Development is proposing a 3-story, 54-unit independent senior (age 62+) housing residence providing full-size 1 and 2 bedroom units on the approximately four-acre site at 1101 Hathaway Drive. The units will be set-aside for low and very-low income households. The proposed building would be a combination of masonry, manufactured panels and manufactured window systems on the exterior. The site plan and landscaping allows for a large landscaped garden area, individual resident garden plots and gazebo. Based on the workshop discussion, the petitioner has prepared an additional site plan option that configures the building in an east-west orientation (attached).
General amenities for all residents will include: a fitness center, movie/tv room, library, game/card room, on-site staff, outdoor grill and resident garden plots. Senior-oriented services will include: planned social and educational activities, 24hr security/emergency systems, wellness services, physical activity programs and scheduled health assessments.
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The project will have a mix of larger one and two bedroom units to allow more room for seniors relocating from a larger home. All apartments will have full-size kitchens, full baths, in-unit washer and dryer, carpeting, window blinds, bulk storage closets, seniors-oriented design features such as: easily accessible kitchen cabinets, wide doorways and maneuvering areas, safe, easy-to-operate appliances, emergency notification systems, easy-to-turn door handles, raised electrical outlets, and lower more accessible light switches. The one-bedroom units will be oversized at 700 sf. and the two-bedroom units will be over 850 sf. Every apartment will exceed section 504/ADA standards with units specifically designed for persons with mobility and sensory impairments and all will incorporate many IHDA-specified universal design features. STAFF REVIEW The Unified Development Ordinance outlines that a staff review will be performed when an application is submitted to amend the Unified Development Ordinance and Zoning Map. The review is designed to evaluate the conformity of the proposed amendment with the Comprehensive Plan.
From a planning standpoint the first consideration is whether it is consistent with the intent of the City’s Comprehensive Plan both in the short-term and long-term to re-zone the property? In looking at past concerns from the Plan Commission in 2003 an emphasis was placed on protecting commercial property. Ultimately, the property was rezoned to allow for mixed use in 2005. According to the City’s comprehensive plan, the percentage of valuation attributed to commercial property in Sycamore was 19.8% in 2005, 21% in 2009, 22.4% in 2012 and 22.5% in 2016. These figures suggest that commercial property as a percentage of assessed valuation has been relatively flat. The comprehensive plan outlines a broader goal of balancing growth or a broader tax base with a strong mix of commercial and industrial uses. The Plan Commission will want to be mindful of the impact the rezoning request has on that objective as it considers the request.
The comprehensive plan includes goals and objectives that aim to maintain the primarily single-family character of the community’s housing stock, but to evaluate the potential to introduce more diversity in housing options in order to attract a variety of residents. Objectives including the pursuit of senior living neighborhoods or senior housing options near walkable centers, and ensuring housing stock appeals to multiple segments are areas where this proposal aligns with the comprehensive plan. However, in the same set of objectives it calls for retaining multi-family density to nine units per gross acre, the preservation of existing neighborhoods and a focus on homeownership as opposed to rental housing. Looking back at census data from 2005 to 2015
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the percentage of home ownership in Sycamore has dropped from 73.7% in 2005, to 66.7% in 2010 to 63.0% for the period of 2011-2015. According to permit data, 2,497 units were built in Sycamore from 2003-2017. Approximately 53%, or 1,320 of those units were attached units that would have been built in R-2, two-family residential or R-3, multi-family residential zoned areas. While the majority of the attached units were built as owner-occupied units, many have been converted to rentals, likely attributing to the reduction in owner-occupied units outlined above.
The City’s Comprehensive Plan outlines the following guidelines for gross density; Low Density 0-3 units per acre, Medium Density 3-6 units per acre, High Density 6-9 units per acre. With a site of approximately 4.64 acres and a proposed development of 54 units, the gross density is approximately 11.64 units per acre; far exceeding the high-density guidelines. The comprehensive plan contemplates that greater densities may be considered and will be weighed in terms of their compatibility with contiguous neighborhoods and uses, affordability and the extent to which they conform with subregional plans and urban design guidelines.
The Urban Design Guidelines state that if multiple family buildings are constructed adjacent to existing developments, their architectural designs should be generally compatible with adjacent neighborhood(s).
When Gardner Capital first approached the City, a site plan consisting of a combination of residential and commercial uses was provided among the examples of the type of project that was being proposed, hence the possible fit in a mixed-use zoned property. Each time development details for a standalone residential building have been submitted to staff for this site, comments have been returned suggesting a commercial component is necessary to be zoning compliant. The City’s Comprehensive Plan outlines a set of goals and objectives designed to serve as a blueprint to achieve the community’s vision for Sycamore. The Comprehensive Plan is a living document; however is reviewed and updated approximately every five years, as there are occasions where adjustments advance the community’s goals and objectives. In this case, rezoning the property to a multi-family zoning above nine units per acre conflicts with the goals and objectives the community outlined in the plan. Absent variances, the number of proposed units would need to be reduced by roughly 24% to meet the maximum allowable density per the City’s Comprehensive Plan. Given a request is being made to deviate from that plan, the petitioner should be prepared to explain how the proposed rezoning is consistent with or advances the City’s ability to achieve the goals and objectives as set forth in the Comprehensive Plan. The petitioner stated that a market study for the Sycamore area demonstrated a need for independent senior housing, both presently and even more so in the future, as evidence that the proposal is consistent with the City’s Comprehensive Plan. The study was presented in summary to the Plan Commission on October 9th.
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This review is done consistent with the request for rezoning and is not designed to serve as a full plan review. There are some elements of the plan, including the density, the overall height of the proposed building and parking that are not consistent with the UDO development standards for the proposed zoning classification. The petitioner indicated a desire to seek a planned development special use permit that would address or request variances in these and any other areas that are not compliant with R-3 zoning, if the rezoning request was approved. SUMMARY Ordinance 2017.11 would rezone the property from C-4, Mixed Use to R-3, Multi-family zoning to accommodate senior apartments. The Plan Commission held public hearings on September 11th and October 9th to consider the request and voted 10 – 0 to forward an unfavorable recommendation. B. Ordinance 2017.12—An Ordinance Amending the Combined Annual Budget and Appropriation Ordinance for the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 in the City of Sycamore, Illinois. First and Second Reading. Each year, the City’s annual budget is revised at midyear to reflect audited numbers for the previous fiscal year ending on April 30th and to reflect actual contract prices and activities approved in the first half of the current fiscal year. After the presentation of the annual independent audit on October 2nd, the City’s FY2017-2018 fiscal budget was revised to include the audited FY2016-2017 numbers and revisions to this year’s budget to reflect actual costs. The complete revised budget document is available on the City’s website: www.cityofsycamore.com and on reference at the Sycamore Public Library. The majority of the proposed amendments reflect the actual costs of this summer’s capital projects, carry over expenses that were budgeted and unspent last fiscal year, or revenues and expenditures associated with grant awards, a reflection of American Aviation Supply closing its operations July 31st, and the decision by the State of Illinois to reduce the amount of state shared income tax for local governments by 10% for this year. The changes are represented in the table below: Line Item 01-000-3413 01-000-4522 06-000-3711 06-000-3722 06-000-8495 06-000-8521 06-000-9026 11-000-3720 11-000-8497 22-000-3217
Original Amended 1,769,419 1,592,477 0 176,942 6,500 35,827 0 145,603 0 145,603 36,000 65,327 5,250 5,700 0 8,117 10,000 18,117 4,500,000 1,121,047
Notes State of Illinois 10% Reduction Transfer In to Offset State Reduction Insurance Reimbursement Revenue from Multiple Grants Corresponding Grant Expenditures Expenditures Related to Ins. Reimbursement Increase Transfer to Cover Fund 26 Insurance Reimbursement Expenditures Related to Ins. Reimbursement Reflect Estimated Revenues
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22-000-3218 22-000-8349 22-000-8494 22-000-9001 26-000-4506 26-000-8342 30-000-8621
2,600,000 690,599 Reflect Estimated Revenues 15,000 25,000 Reflect Anticipated Legal Expenses 6,642,252 1,759,416 Reflect Estimated Expenditures 0 176,942 Transfer to Offset State Reduction 5,250 5,700 Increase Transfer to Cover Fund 26 225 500 Reflect Actual Financial Services Cost 0 1,500 Reflect Actual Cost Land Acquisition
City Council approval is recommended. 13.
RESOLUTIONS
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CONSIDERATIONS
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OTHER NEW BUSINESS
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ADJOURNMENT
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