City of Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board Met June 23

By Angelica Saylo Pilo

Sep 5, 2020

City of Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board met June 23.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL VOTE

Chair Weller called the June 23, 2020 Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Upon roll call, the following were:

Roll Call Vote

Present: Nicole Aranas

Christopher Dabovich

Bob Gudmundson

Cecilia Horejs

Mark Plunkett

Dan Wanzung

Scott Weller

Absent: None

City Staff Present: Tracy Jones, Staff Planner

Joseph Tebrugge, Director of Engineering

II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JUNE 9, 2020

The minutes were approved as presented.

III. PUBLIC COMMENT

There was none.

IV. OLD BUSINESS

ZA #20-06/ SPECIAL USE PERMIT/ 1300 S. PRESIDENT STREET/ ONE LINE CHURCH

Chair Weller reconvened the public hearing on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. He stated that the public hearing was called to order on June 9, 2020 but was continued until June 23, 2020 to give the applicant and staff time to provide additional information to the Board. The Board requested additional information from the applicant on the proposed traffic flow for the site. The Board also asked staff to reach out to the adjacent homeowner’s association to the south to find out their preference for screening along the south property line.

Chair Weller stated that since the June 9, 2020 public hearing, the applicant has submitted a traffic flow email dated June 16, 2020 that supports their current parking lot layout. The applicant believes, and staff agrees, that the current parking lot layout is the preferred design for the following reasons:

 Peak traffic for the property would be Sunday mornings and not during the weekly rush hour time periods, so we are not expecting traffic congestion on President Street;

 Closing the north entrance on to President Street would allow for a patio area next to the building and safety for pedestrian traffic into the building;

 Moving the south entrance further south on President Street would allow for an expanded and more efficient detention basin;

 Maintaining the existing driveway to Dawes Avenue as a single lane will limit use of that driveway and making it a one-way exit will eliminate traffic from Dawes Avenue on to the property; and

 While we expect some traffic to exit via the existing driveway to Dawes Avenue, we expect most traffic will go west to Naperville Road instead of east to President Street, limiting traffic congestion at the intersection of Dawes Avenue and President Street.

Chair Weller further stated that since the June 9, 2020 public hearing, staff also contacted Dan Walsh, the president of the Briarcliffe Knolls Manor Homes Association. Mr. Walsh consulted with the rest of the homeowner’s association board members about their preference for screening along the south property line and they would prefer an arborvitae hedge over a privacy fence. This is consistent with the preference of the two owners that spoke about screening along the south property line at the June 9, 2020 public hearing. Staff is supportive of the landscaping preference over a privacy fence and the screening recommendation has been changed accordingly.

Judy Siegel, 1408 Princeton Court, Wheaton was sworn in. Ms. Siegel stated that she had concerns that the standing water south of the existing parking lot would move closer to her condo building with the construction of the parking lot expansion. She questioned whether the standing water to the west of the parking lot would improve with the parking lot expansion. She further questioned why the additional parking was needed.

Mr. Richards stated that the standing water to the south of the existing parking lot would not move closer to the condo building and most of the water would be directed to the new detention basin.

Director Tebrugge stated that the proposed parking lot expansion and detention basin improvements would slightly improve the standing water to the west of the parking lot.

Mr. Derry stated that the additional parking was not needed on a day-to-day basis but was needed for special events that they would hold throughout the year.

The Board discussed the application and decided that no additional information was needed, and they were comfortable making a recommendation.

Ms. Aranas moved and then Mr. Plunkett seconded the motion to approve the special use permit request for a lobby addition and a parking lot expansion for the existing church building located at 1300 S. President Street, subject to an arborvitae hedge being installed along the south property line to screen the existing multi-family development to the south.

Roll Call Vote

Ayes: Nicole Aranas