Sangamon Sun

City of St. Charles Planning & Development Committee met July 9.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

1. Call To Order

The meeting was convened by Chairman Bessner at 7:00 p.m.

2. Roll Called

Roll was called:

Present: Stellato, Silkaitis, Payleitner, Lemke, Turner, Bancroft, Gaugel, Vitek, Bessner

Absent: Lewis

3. Public Works

a. Review of Bids from Bid Package #2 for the Police Station Project – Information Only.

Mr. Suhr said we are a couple weeks ahead of our bidding schedule for bid package #2 and would like to award those bids at next Monday’s City Council meeting. We are still in the process of reviewing the bids and interviewing the contractors to verify the scope and qualifying them, but we’re pretty close to complete. We had a good start to bid package #2 with the precast concrete bid which was approved recently and was under our project estimate. We are hopeful to continue that trend for the remaining bids for #2-which includes: earthwork activation, pre-cast concrete, structural steel, roofing, glass and glazing, site utilities and cast in place concrete; especially considering that the project was trending about $1 million over our project estimate a few months ago. However, at this time the remainder of the bids are about $1.5 million dollars under the estimated cost of about $5.8 million for this portion of the work. The due diligence over the past few months by our team to value engineer the project and perhaps some luck, has appeared to pay-off, during that timeframe we reduced project cost by over $3million and are now in the position of being under our total project estimate as we get ready for final bid package #3, which will be ready for approval in October.

Chris Siefert-Riley Construction-926 North Shore Dr., Lake Bluff-bids were received 6/29 for concrete, steel, roofing, glazing, elevators, excavation, site utilities, as well as underground storage tank removal. A total of 57 firms were solicited, 37 firms responded, the estimated value of that package is roughly $7.5million, which includes the pre-cast which was previously accepted; that’s just the raw numbers, that excludes the contingencies, bonds, fees. The approximate bid value is just over $6million which is roughly $1.5million under. He said they have a few scope reviews left which they will get to this week, they will then finalize the bid tabulations in a final presentation to share. He said there are several alternates the team has under consideration to ensure keeping the project within the budget constraint established by Council. Those adds include:

• Additional rows of underground contention, which our team will be evaluating, roughly

$431,000.

• Maintenance bay at the sally port, it’s just the structure and enclosure now, but that section was looked at as an alternate and he highly recommends the city consider it due its cost effectiveness at this point in time.

• Adding different finishes to the precast, whether its thin brick or a colored concrete mix; those may be prohibitive to us not only for cost but from schedule given the time of year, winter is coming a lot quicker than we think for construction.

Some minor deducts:

• Precast wall panel connections

• Alternate roof system, one step down would be a ballasted system, a pvc roof system would be a bit of an upgrade.

• Precast stairs in lieu of metal pan stairs, which makes it really quick for construction to get stairs in right away to have access to the 2nd floor right away.

• Continuing and extending the watermain on 14th St. to the north toward Main St. is an alternate they will be evaluating.

At this point in time we’re in the middle of bidding package #2 and are celebrating what we wanted to do for structure and shell knowing the climate and the rhetoric that’s out there with tariffs and other issues with material price increases; we’ve been pushing to get this done before any of those take effect, to get ready to start construction the first week of August; depending on the timing of the underground storage tank removal, with completion August, 2019. Aldr. Lemke said in regard to the panels, will those be tip-ups for exterior walls, or are those for the floors. Mr. Siefert said those are for the tip-ups for the walls.

*Aldr. Stellato recused himself from item 4a at 7:08pm.

4. Community & Economic Development

a. Plan Commission recommendation to approve an Amendment to Special Use for

Planned Unit Development and PUD Preliminary Plan for Hillcroft Estates, 1147 Geneva Rd. 

Ms. Johnson said this is a 1.9 acre parcel on the west side of Geneva Rd., north of the Oakes townhomes. Last June a PUD Amendment was approved by the city for development of a single family home on the property, with a building height in excess of the zoning standard; that home is currently under construction. Avondale Custom homes, the property owner, is proposing to add a second home on the southern half of the lot. They’re requesting a PUD amendment to allow division of the property into 2 parcels, doing so without providing a Plat of Subdivision through a Plat Act of Exemption. Each parcel will be just under 1acre in size and both parcels will be accessed from the shared drive off Geneva Rd. Plan Commission held a public hearing on June 5th and recommended approval subject to resolution of outstanding staff comments, also subject to widening the driveway as requested by the Fire dept. to retain the tree preservation zone along the west lot line. A revise plan has been submitted, the driveway has been widened and does preserve the tree line, and the Fire dept. has approved the new layout.

Aldr. Silkaitis said the staff report states that if we use this new procedure that they will not have to pay any land cash ordinance or inclusionary housing fees; is that correct. Ms. Johnson said yes that is correct, because a plat of subdivision would not be triggered, the city cannot require them to pay those fees. Aldr. Silkaitis said they are still building a house, therefor they will have students, should they be paying the fees. Ms. Johnson said this is a unique case, they are requesting a PUD deviation from the requirement to provide a plat of subdivision, which she doesn’t believe the city has seen before, but the city attorney has said this is a request that can be made. Aldr. Silkaitis said he doesn’t have a problem with the request, but he doesn’t see how we can exempt them from paying these fees; it doesn’t seem right to him and he wouldn’t support it.

Aldr. Payleitner asked for an explanation as to why they are exempt. Ms. Johnson said there’s a state statute, the plat act; if a property meets certain criteria they can be exempt from providing a plat of subdivision. As a home rule municipality the city is not required to recognize plat act exemptions, however through the PUD process the city attorney has weighed in that there is an opportunity to consider allowing a plat act exemption. Aldr. Payleitner said if another house was being built on an empty lot somewhere, would they be required to pay these fees. Ms. Johnson said typically we do not have single-family PUD’s, but PUD aside, if a subdivision was required, they’d have to pay the fees.

Aldr. Lemke said he sees the Plan Commission was generally supportive, but he’d be nervous to do this again and in the future he’ll hold to the land cash ordinance, and likewise.

Chairman Bessner asked if this would set any kind of precedent for the future. Ms. Johnson said potentially. Mr. Colby said yes it could for other similar developments; it would need to be a property that qualifies for the “plat act”. Single lot splits of an individual parcel that hasn’t been subdivided and is split into 2 lots, that qualifies for the plat act exemption. If it was a PUD and they made the request through the PUD to not provide a subdivision plat, similar to this scenario, that request would need to be considered, same as this request is being considered; it would have to be a PUD, it’s unusual to have a PUD that’s just a 2 lot subdivision; which is how this situation has come up.

Aldr. Payleitner asked if both properties will be exempt. Mr. Colby said fees were not paid on the existing house because it was a previously established lot or parcel that predates our current subdivision regulations. The fee would only come due on the one additional lot, if this was going to be platted through the subdivision process.

Aldr. Bancroft asked what the fee would be. Mr. Colby said it varies based on bedroom count, but it’s in the range of up to $20,000. Aldr. Turner made a motion to approve an Amendment to Special Use for Planned Unit Development and PUD Preliminary Plan for Hillcroft Estates, 1147 Geneva Rd. Seconded by Aldr. Bancroft.

Roll was called:

Ayes: Turner, Bancroft, Gaugel, Vitek

Absent: Lewis

Recused: Stellato

Nays: Silkaitis, Payleitner, Lemke

Motion carried 4-3

b. Plan Commission recommendation to approve a Preliminary Plat of Subdivision for Replat of LeRoy Oakes Resubdivision.

Ms. Johnson said this is the 4th and final building pad in the LeRoy Oakes Business Park, located on Dean St. west of Randall Rd. The rest of the business park which includes 3 office buildings was constructed in 2006-2007; the park was platted as a single lot and is under common ownership with the individual units within the buildings under condo ownership. Max Bosso of Ryan Companies has requested approval of preliminary plat to create a separate lot for the remaining building pad; a medical office will be constructed on the lot and will be under separate ownership from the rest of the park. The proposed lot is 34,000 sq. ft. which covers the building footprint, landscape areas and the front drive, the building is about 23,000 sq. ft., a portion of the stormwater detention facility will be vacated to allow the paving area to be extended to the south. Plan Commission recommended approval subject to resolution of outstanding staff comments, as well as providing a fence around the detention pond perimeter; revised plans have been submitted showing that fence around the perimeter of the pond.

Aldr. Stellato made a motion to approve a Preliminary Plat of Subdivision for Replat of LeRoy Oakes Resubdivision. Seconded by Aldr. Turner. Approved unanimously by voice vote. Motion carried 8-0.

c. Recommendation to approve a Minor Change to PUD Preliminary Plan for

Anthony Place at Prairie Centre PUD.

Mr. Colby said GC Housing Development, LLC is requesting the minor change which includes:

• Connecting 2 planned building footprints together into a single structure with a central covered entry way.

• Relocating the garage access points to the ends of the building.

• Changing the structure from 3.5 to 4 stories so the parking and lowest level would be at grade as opposed to partially below grade.

The PUD Ordinance anticipated that the buildings could be connected in the manner that’s proposed, however the PUD does suggests that the connecting portion of the building be recessed or bumped in, as opposed to bumped out, which is being proposed in the plans where there’s a connecting tower element between the 2 buildings. Staff believes the design as proposed along with the addition of the covered entry way provides the desired visual break between the 2 buildings along the face. Staff has reviewed the application and determined the minor change complies with the PUD standards and a representative from Shodeen and GC Development are present for questions.

Aldr. Bancroft made a motion to approve a Minor Change to PUD Preliminary Plan for

Anthony Place at Prairie Centre PUD. Seconded by Aldr. Stellato. Approved unanimously by voice vote. Motion carried 8-0.

d. Plan Commission recommendation to approve a Final Plat of Subdivision (Minor

Subdivision) for Prairie Centre PUD- Final Plat of Resubdivision No. 1.

Mr. Colby said this is to create a building lot for the Anthony Place development; the entire Prairie Centre site was platted earlier this year in accordance with the PUD Ordinance and resubdivisions can be considered for individual buildings as proposed by the developer. The proposed lot complies with the PUD standards and Plan Commission recommends approval.

Aldr. Stellato made a motion to approve a Final Plat of Subdivision (Minor Subdivision) for Prairie Centre PUD- Final Plat of Resubdivision No. 1. Seconded by Aldr. Bancroft. Approved unanimously by voice vote. Motion carried 8-0.

e. Recommendation to approve a Minor Change to PUD Preliminary Plan for Fiore

Salon Suites, Tyler & 64 Business Park PUD Lot 2.

Ms. Johnson said plans were approved last year to construct a clinic on the property and the building has been partially constructed at this point. The property owner is Vince Fiore, he has applied for a Minor Change requesting approval of some modifications to the approved plans, including use of fiber cement siding on the exterior instead of brick, change in design of the entrance columns, removal of some of the doors and relocation of others and removal of some planting along the north wall. Staff determined that the proposal complies with the PUD and code standards and recommends approval.

Aldr. Turner made a motion to approve a Minor Change to PUD Preliminary Plan for Fiore Salon Suites, Tyler & 64 Business Park PUD Lot 2. Seconded by Aldr. Stellato. Approved unanimously by voice vote. Motion carried 8-0.

5. Additional Business-None.

6. Executive Session

• Personnel –5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)

• Pending Litigation – 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11)

• Probable or Imminent Litigation – 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11)

• Property Acquisition – 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5)

• Collective Bargaining – 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2)

• Review of Executive Session Minutes – 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21)

7. Additional Items From Mayor, Council, Staff Or Citizens.

8. Adjournment- Aldr. Lemke made a motion to adjourn at 7:19 pm. Seconded by

Aldr. Bancroft. Approved unanimously by voice vote. Motion Carried 8-0.

https://www.stcharlesil.gov/sites/default/files/event/minutes/7-9-18%20P%26Dmin.pdf