Background
In late 2016 the Village Board established strategic priorities for the Village in 2017. Staff from the Planning and Community Development Department and Legal Department have internally discussed updating various aspects of the Zoning code to modernize the code to make it more user friendly and provide clarity. In addition, staff has reviewed areas of the code to streamline the processes for residents and for developers. The end product will be much more inviting visually and better organized.
Staff has divided recommended amendments to the code into two phases as follows:
Phase 1
Definitions; Permitted Use Table; Special Uses; and Planned Unit Developments. In addition there are amendments suggested to several other sections of Chapter 28, that will be described below.
Phase 2
Non Conforming Uses; Hardship Criteria for Land Use Variations; Use Districts; Parking; and minor updates to the Plan Commission and Design Commission sections. Also minor fences and accessory structures will be reviewed.
Ordinance Review Committee
On February 22, 2017, the Ordinance Review Committee reviewed the proposed amendments and were supportive of the changes to the zoning code (see attached minutes).
Phase 1: the following summarizes the proposed amendments to the zoning code as part of Phase 1.
Planned Unit Developments; Chapter 28-9
Attached are proposed amendments to the Planned Unit Development section. The primary recommendation is to streamline the development review process by combining the Preliminary PUD and Final PUD into one step. The difference between preliminary PUD and Final PUD is Final Engineering, which includes posting of any required bonds and escrows. Final Engineering would now be deferred to building permit as outlined in a new section ‘9.13 Permit Requirements for Planned Unit Developments’.
Currently, the Preliminary PUD process can take about 4 to 5 months, and then Final PUD can take an additional 2 months. Making the PUD process a one step process will reduce the timing to obtain PUD approval so that the developer can move forward with permits. The developer will still need to submit all the same documents, but this revised process will allow certain final items to be submitted at permit.
Also recommended is changing the name of the Plat and Subdivision Committee to the “Conceptual Plan Review Committee”. This name more accurately describes the committee.
Special Uses
Aside from minor changes to verbiage, the primary recommended amendment is to increase the threshold for granting a Special Use waiver for restaurants from 1,500 square feet to 4,000 square feet. In 2013 the Plan Commission recommended and the Board approved allowing staff to approve a Special Use waiver for restaurants 1,500 sf or less. An application must be filed with the Planning Department and if all criteria are met, then the waiver can be granted and no public hearing required. Attached is the current Special Use Waiver application. One revision to this application is to allow restaurants who serve alcohol to qualify for the waiver. Currently if they serve alcohol, the waiver cannot be granted.
Since 2013, 4 of 16 restaurants were granted a waiver, while 12 went through the Plan Commission process. The table attached lists all restaurants since 2006 and the square footage of each. From 2006 to 2016, there have been 61 restaurants. 17 of 61 (28%) fell within the 1,500 sf waiver threshold. Staff is recommending a larger threshold so that a higher percentage of restaurants can become eligible for the waiver. It is recommended that the waiver apply to restaurants of 4,000 sf or less. Since 2006, 48 of 61 (79%) would have qualified for the waiver in terms of floor area size, while the larger restaurants above 4,000 sf would have to submit the Plan Commission application and obtain Board approval.
Staff suggests this recommendation to streamline the process for restaurants while continuing, via the waiver process, to check critical issues such as parking.
Definitions
Proposed amendments to this section mostly consist of minor revisions to (or more logical reorganization of) existing definitions or eliminating obsolete and or self-explanatory definitions. One definition recommended for removal is the definition of family, which is rarely utilized for code enforcement and is likely unconstitutional.
Permitted Use Table
The recommended amendments to the permitted use table include reorganizing the table by use categories. Attached are the changes to the existing table and the new recommended table. Currently, there are three sections: Non-Manufacturing and Non-Residential; Processing and Manufacturing; and Residential. Staff recommends grouping by the following new categories:
Residential; Commercial; Manufacturing / Processing; Institutional; and Other. The new categories better align the permitted uses to make the code more user friendly.
In addition, many line items (31 total) in the permitted use table are clearly commercial retail, so a new line item “Retail” has been added to the Commercial category. These 31 line items are no longer in the table and will fit under “Retail”. Other line items have been combined or deleted as not necessary. Therefore the total number of line items in the table have been reduced from 215 to 145, thus making the table more user friendly.
Other
The following sections are either duplicative to other municipal code sections, or should be moved to other section of the Municipal Code, and are therefore not necessary in Chapter 28 - Zoning. The following sections are recommended for deletion:
28-15 (Occupancy Permits / will be moved to Chapter 23);
28-16 (Plats / already in Chapter 23 so redundant);
28-17 (Enforcement / move to Chapter 3 which is the Director of Building responsibilities);
28-19 (Violation and Penalty / already covered in Chapter 1 of the Municipal Code);
28-20 (Validity / Validity of Chapter 28 will be written into the Ordinances that approve these amendments and all future amendments therefore not necessary in chapter 28));
28-21 (Repeal of Conflicting Ordinances / same as above, verbiage to address conflicting Ordinances will be in all future Ordinances adopting any amendments to this Chapter.)
*Also Chapter 28-18 will be renumbered to Chapter 15 due to deletions above.
RECOMMENDATION
A public hearing was held by the Plan Commission on March 22, 2017 were Commissioner Drost moved and Commissioner Dawson seconded:
A motion to recommend to the Village Board of Trustees, approval of PC#17-005, Chapter 28 Text Amendments, with the added recommendation that Staff look at Section 18.3 and make sure that the new verbiage is consistent with the existing ordinance.
Roll Call Vote: Commissioners Cherwin, Ennes, Green, Jensen, Dawson, Drost, and Chairman Lorenzini voted in favor. Motion carried.