Sangamon Sun

Village of La Grange Plan Commission met July 11.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

A regular meeting of the Plan Commission for the Village of La Grange was held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, on the second floor Auditorium Room of the Village Hall, 53 S. La Grange Road, La Grange, Illinois.

I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL OF THE PLAN COMMISSION 

Chairman Paice called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

Verify Quorum 

Upon roll call the following were:

Present: Egan, Hoffenberg, Mosher, Schwartz, Wentink, Paice

Absent: O’Connor

Community Development Director Charity Jones and Village Planner Kelsey Fawell were also present.

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Regular Meeting of June 13, 2023, and Special Meeting of June 27, 2023 

Chairman Paice asked if there were any comments regarding either meeting. None responded. He then called for a motion for approval of both meeting minutes.

Commissioner Schwartz made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Mosher to approve the minutes for the regular meeting of June 13, 2023, and the special meeting of June 27, 2023, with no changes. A voice vote was taken:

Ayes: All 

Nays: None 

Motion passed 

III. PUBLIC HEARINGS 

A. PC CASE #269 – SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR MOTION PICTURE THEATRE, SITE PLAN APPROVAL, AND DESIGN REVIEW PERMIT AT 76-80 S. LA GRANGE ROAD (LA GRANGE THEATRE) 

Chairman Paice asked anyone planning on speaking this evening to please stand and raise his/her right hand. He then administered the oath. He then asked staff to make a presentation.

Staff Presentation

Kelsey Fawell, Village Planner, said the applicant is seeking approval of a site plan and design review permit to construct an addition to the existing La Grange Theater. Motion picture theatres, except drive-in establishments, are a special use in the C-1 District. The theater first opened its doors in 1925 which predates the 1991 zoning code. The theater has operated as a theater since that time. The theater does not have a special use granted for the property so it is operating as a nonconforming use. The zoning code requires any expansion or enlargement of a nonconforming use to conform to all regulations of the code. This is why the theater is now requesting a special use permit for the location.

The applicant is constructing a 6,500-square-foot addition onto the theater and it will be about 25.8 feet in height. The project entails raising portions of 76 S. La Grange Road, immediately to the north of the theatre, located in the rear of the property in the parking lot. The project proposes three new theater auditoriums, two with 73 seats each and one smaller theater with 39 seats. Currently, the theater houses six auditoriums with a total of 318 seats.

Ms. Fawell stated the proposed site design includes the elimination of the private driveway on the west side of the property. They are still maintaining emergency egress for pedestrians and refuse collection services. The elimination of this drive is anticipated to reduce traffic on Cossitt Avenue. It will leave only ingress/egress access to the site off of La Grange Road. Trash collection will occur from the remaining Cossitt Avenue curb cut. Staff is recommending that some signage is added to the entrance off of Cossitt so passenger vehicles know that there is no through traffic there. The subject property does have a shared parking arrangement for some of the surrounding retail uses. Construction of the addition does require the removal of eleven parking stalls. The parking lot is to be in compliance with code requirements. It does meet the isle width and the stall width and length requirement. In the C-1 District, it does not require a minimum number of parking or stacking spaces unless the Village Board does approve that in conjunction with approval of the special use.

The exterior of the proposed addition will be constructed of precast concrete panels to resemble existing brick and color. It is proposed to match the Hot Dog and Burger Company. A faux limestone band is proposed along the elevation to add visual interest. Additionally, the north elevation of the proposed addition will feature details intended to resemble limestone and brick patterns in a design that is similar to the existing southern side. A sample of the proposed materials cannot be provided, as one does not exist. The brick pattern will be embossed in the precast using a mold and then the panels will be stained for the desired color. Staff did solicit the Design Review Commissioners’ input. The feedback included an additional explanation of the proposed materials. They also asked for some examples of other properties that had similar used materials. They question how much it will look like real brick and how will it wear in time versus real brick.

Ms. Fawell said upon review of the application, if the Plan Commission determines that the standards for special use, site plan, and design review permit approval have been met, staff suggests some conditions that are included in staff’s report. She then read the conditions.

Chairman Paice asked if any of the Commissioners had any questions for staff.

Commissioner Wentink asked if the parcels on sheet A-3 were all common ownership parcels that would resolve the issue of shared parking and access.

Mrs. Jones, Community Development Director, stated some different LLCs and corporations own the various parcels.

Commissioner Wentink asked if they have made agreements or placed easements for access.

Mrs. Jones said what staff is suggesting as a condition of the special use permit is those agreements that are in place now that are informal in nature be formalized as it relates to parking and ingress/egress.

Chairman Paice asked how many parties are part of the parking agreement. Mrs. Jones stated there are three legal entities.

Commissioner Schwartz asked if the passageway behind Horton’s that people use to go out onto Madison is part of that parking agreement and if they are obligated to keep it open for traffic.

Mrs. Jones said the passageway by Horton’s is a secondary access and the Horton’s parcel is not a part of this application. The parking stalls that are immediately adjacent to the addition for the theater will benefit that use and the other tenants that are part of the parcels that are part of the subject property. Staff believes they should have a formalized ingress/egress and parking agreement for the benefit of this subject property for those parking stalls that otherwise would have no access to them if the Horton’s parcel cuts off the access on La Grange Road.

Commissioner Schwartz asked who owns the parking behind Horton’s and Palmer’s.

Mrs. Jones stated Palmer Place has a little of its parking right behind their property. Then there is lot eight which is the permeable paver parking lot which is owned by the Village.

Commissioner Schwartz asked if Horton’s could close off that driveway. Mrs. Jones said she would have to look at who owns it.

Chairman Paice asked if the conditions need to be satisfied before the applicant goes before the Village Board.

Ms. Fawell stated yes.

Commissioner Mosher asked if auditorium eight met the code because there is only one entrance/exit.

Mrs. Jones said the Building Official has reviewed the floor plan for compliance with all building codes. The applicant can speak as to what the threshold is for the number of seats and the amount of ingress/egress there has to be.

Chairman Paice asked if there were any further questions from the Commission for staff. None responded. He then asked the applicant to come forward to make their presentation.

Applicant Presentation 

Randy King, the architect, stated the answer to Commissioner Mosher’s question is 50 for the egress. As far as condition number four they have satisfied that and number five is on page A-4 in the zoning chart. The reason why they are here tonight is because of the success the theater is having now. This addition will increase the number of people that come. They are sorry to see a couple of businesses go but this brings more people into town.

They did take into consideration the safety of the students by closing off the alley. There is a trash compactor back there and that will be serviced during non-school hours. They tried to light up all around the building. They will have the lighting company complete a photometric plan. The precast concrete has some advantages for the theater. It is a ten inch wall with insulation built into it. It helps them meet the energy code but also helps with the sound in the theater. The precast panels go up very quickly within a few days.

They have taken the brick detail that is on the south side that faces the library and tried to emulate that. There is a stone ban that is on the theater right now and they will be staining it to look like stone as well as the corner details at the top. How they make these panels is they pour these panels into a giant tray which creates a brick pattern. They plan on using stained concrete. The brick on Horton’s and the hot tub company is stained. They are trying to make all the buildings match. All four of their elevations will match in color.

Mr. King said there is some landscaping in front when you enter off of La Grange Road and they will make sure they will match that. For the parking agreement, there is a parking agreement that is already in place because all three parcels are controlled by the same person. When the theater was built it had no parking. During the day it is predominately Horton’s parking lot and then at night people will use that parking lot for the local businesses. There is no material sample that he can bring in but they can get addresses of similar buildings. Horton’s does have some parking spots behind the building and they have control over them. He asked if the Commission had any questions.

Ms. Fawell clarified conditions two through six need to be satisfied before going before the Village Board consideration. The Landscape Plan will be done during permitting.

Chairman Paice asked if they can explain the color on the panels.

Mr. King said they will buy the color concrete and it will be the color of the mortar. Then once it is up all they have to do is stain the brick.

Chairman Paice asked if there is some landscaping going in front of that wall. Mr. King stated yes.

Commissioner Hoffenberg said the 185 additional seats will bring in a lot more people and there is already a parking issue in downtown La Grange. He asked if there were other options explored to not eliminate eleven spaces. There are concerns about what this will do to parking.

Mr. King stated when they remodeled the theater the last time there were 890 seats and they went down to 304 seats. Even though they are adding they are still 80% below what it used to be. When you are going to the theater it is rarely that it is at full capacity. They are having more convenient times and utilizing smaller auditoriums. They did look at keeping an extra row of parking but it does take away a lot from the theater. They do have to make it financially feasible to make it work. They did sacrifice some parking for convenience too.

Chris Johnson, the operator of the theater, said the hair salon has four employees that use parking and the hot dog company has two to three employees that used the parking lot along with their customers. The landscaping is being added in there which makes the parking lot look better. There will be no entrance to the theater from the back. Based on the parking study the top deck of the parking garage is empty on Saturday nights. When they had four auditoriums the peak was 240,000 and right now in the past 12 months they are at 165,000. It should normalize at 180,000 in the current form and they hope to get it back up to 240,000 and 300,000 might be the maximum for a year. With the six screens, they are limited to the movies they can play. Their biggest auditorium is 104 seats and the smallest is 47 seats so it will be nice to have some in the middle.

Commissioner Hoffenberg asked if the parking consultant was consulted about the reduction of eleven spaces plus the potential of additional traffic by adding more auditoriums.

Mrs. Jones stated before the recent renovations done for Classic Cinemas the theater had 986 seats and currently, it has 318. Even with the addition as proposed it would still be half of what it was. The total potential impact is less than what it could have been three years ago. They will also be eliminating two retail establishments to accommodate the addition. The parking study that was completed in February of this past year did find that in general there is less of a parking supply problem as much as a parking management challenge. It is about getting the vehicles for employees and commuters parked in the areas that are the less desirable customer spaces and freeing up those spaces. On weekends and peak times, there are certain areas in the downtown where it is extremely occupied but if you move just beyond those areas there is capacity available. They have to figure out how to move employees and other parking users out of those peak-demand areas.

Commissioner Egan asked how this addition will affect the second-story windows on the back side of Q.

Mr. King said it should not affect them at all.

Commissioner Egan asked if there were any complaints in regard to the trash compactor. Mr. King stated no.

Commissioner Mosher asked if staff knew of any issues with the parking lot currently that should be evaluated at this time.

Mrs. Jones said she is not aware of any drainage issues. She believes the closure of the private drive onto Cossitt Avenue will be a safety improvement. The parking drive aisle and stalls all meet standards. The additional landscape areas that they are proposing on the south end do improve the existing condition and to improve it further would require the removal of more parking spaces.

Chairman Paice asked if the electric service coming into the building will need to be rebuilt.

Mr. King stated some of it will need to be adjusted.

Commissioner Hoffenberg asked who the three owners were for the parking agreement.

Mrs. Jones said there are 80 S. La Grange Road, Inc. and Seamus Knolls, Inc., then the Horton’s parcels are to the north of that. They will have to work through this before the ordinance is approved. They did talk to the Village Attorney because the applicant was listed as Seamus Knolls and the other parcel is owned by 80 S. La Grange, Inc.

Commissioner Wentink asked if the special use would have to run with both parcels.

Mrs. Jones stated that is correct because the special use is being provided for a theater that sits on both parcels.

Commissioner Hoffenberg said the parking is a big issue so he wants to know if the parking agreement was part of the condition for the special use or if it needs to be agreed upon before it goes before the Village Board for approval.

Mrs. Jones stated what staff is recommending as part of a condition that before it is approved by the Village Board that the informal parking agreement that is in place now, for the benefit of all the buildings on the subject property and the Horton’s property, would be formalized.

Chairman Paice asked if there were any further questions for the applicant. None responded. He then asked if there was anyone in the audience that wanted to speak in regard to this public hearing.

Public Comment 

Jill, a resident from La Grange Point, said she lives across from the theater. There is a marquee that is on La Grange Road that is on all the time. She asked if they were planning on adding another marquee. She asked how they are going to show all the movies they have.

Chris Johnson stated the reason why they went to the marquee was because they went from one auditorium to six auditoriums. There is ample space to advertise all the movies they will be playing on just one marquee. When they first turned on the marquee they did not have a photo-sensitive dimming set. It does dim at night and they also changed the rotation.

Jill asked how long will the construction take and will traffic be affected. Mr. Johnson said it will take about six months and traffic will not be affected.

Jim Danbury asked if the truck for the trash compactor will need to back in the alley and if so if there are any safety issues.

John Rott stated it has to back in from the parking lot.

Mr. Danbury asked what hours the trucks typically come.

Mr. Rott said they usually have them come before any of the businesses open. They would not want them to come during school hours.

Chairman Paice asked if there was anyone else in the audience that wanted to speak in regard to this public hearing. None responded. He then called for a motion to close the public hearing.

Commissioner Schwartz made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Wentink to close the public hearing for Case #269. A voice vote was taken:

Ayes: All 

Nays: None 

Motion passed

Plan Commission Discussion 

Chairman Paice asked if any of the Commissioners had any comments regarding the standards for the special use.

Commissioner Egan said a good point that was brought up was the signage. They do not want to have a huge sign and disturb the neighbors across the street. They need to meet the requirements for after hours that are set in the code. Closing access to Cossitt was a good idea for safety purposes.

Commissioner Hoffenberg stated he is not sure if they should make it part of the conditions that trash pickup is not during school hours.

Chairman Paice said it might be better to have it done when they are in school. He then asked if there were any concerns about the design of the addition. He feels when it goes before the Board they should have more architectural designs.

Commissioner Mosher stated she likes how they are trying to match it to the south elevation but she would agree with the Chairman.

Chairman Paice said they will have to address the photometric plan and where the lights are going to be on the building. He then asked the Commissioners if they had any questions regarding staff’s conditions.

Commissioner Hoffenberg stated regarding the parking agreement an additional condition to the formal agreement is that Horton’s would agree to not block off passage between the subject parking lot and the Village parking lot. If Horton’s provided an easement then they would not be able to block it off. With having only one ingress/egress onto La Grange Road he is concerned that this parking lot is going to stack up.

Commissioner Egan said the problem is the owner of Horton’s is not part of this. Chairman Paice stated he agrees that they would not be able to provide a sample wall.

Mrs. Jones said since a sample could not be provided staff asked if a sample could be provided on-site before commencing construction.

Mr. King stated they can do that.

Chairman Paice said he would agree with the applicant. You would have to see one in existence.

Mr. King asked if a condition could be that they will match as close as possible to the existing colors that are there.

Commissioner Hoffenberg stated it is not so much the materials but rather it matches. They can construct the wall and paint a small section and then have staff approve it.

Mr. King said they are going to want it to match also.

Chairman Paice asked staff if conditions five and six have been resolved.

Ms. Fawell stated yes they have.

Commissioner Egan asked if they could clarify that the applicant is Seamus Knoll, LLC and then 80 S. La Grange Road Inc. is the one that owns the property that the theater is on. There should be some kind of clarification before it goes to the Board as to the agreement between those two and who is going to be developing this property.

Chairman Paice asked if there were any further comments from the Commission. None responded. He then called for a motion for a recommendation.

Plan Commission Recommendation 

Commissioner Egan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Schwartz to recommend to the President and Board of Trustees approval of Case #269 – Special Use Permit for Motion Picture Theatre, Site Plan Approval, and Design Review Permit at 76-80 S. La Grange Road with the following conditions:

1. After the construction of the walls, the applicant must get staff approval on the color. 

2. The applicant must record a shared parking agreement to memorialize the existing shared parking and ingress/egress benefits for the subject property, consistent with the proposed site plan.

3. A photometric plan demonstrating compliance with code requirements be submitted prior to the Village Board consideration.

4. The façade elevations must be revised to indicate the mounting height of proposed light fixtures prior to the Village Board’s consideration.

5. Prior to building permit issuance a landscaping plan for the proposed landscape islands and a grading plan must be submitted to the Village for review and approval. 6. There is a clarification of the ownership of the two parcels and who the actual developer will be in relationship to all the parties.

A roll call vote was taken:

Ayes: Egan, Schwartz, Hoffenberg, Mosher, Wentink, Paice 

Nays: None 

Motion passed 

IV. GENERAL DISCUSSION 

None

V. PUBLIC COMMENTS

None

VI. ADJOURNMENT 

Chairman Paice called for a motion to adjourn the meeting.

Commissioner Schwartz made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hoffenberg to adjourn the meeting at 8:44 p.m. A voice vote was taken:

Ayes: All 

Nays: None 

Motion passed 

https://il-lagrange2.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3120