VILLAGE OF BARRINGTON HILLS

PLAN COMMISSION MEETING

FEBRUARY 14, 2005

The regular meeting of the Village of Barrington Hills Plan Commission was called to order by Chairman Wolfgram at 7:35 p.m.

Commission Members Present:             Kenneth Bosworth

                                                            Lou Anne Majewski

                                                            James O’Donnell

                                                            Michael Schmechtig

                                                            David M. Stieper

                                                            Daniel Wolfgram, Chairman

                                     Absent:            Peter Grande

                                                            Patrick Hennelly

                                                            Thomas McGrath

The Attendance Sheet is attached and made part of these Minutes.

PREVIOUS MINUTES:  Commissioner Majewski made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Bosworth, to approve the January 10^th Minutes.  Some spelling errors were noted.  Approval of the corrected Minutes was unanimous by voice vote.

HAEGER’S BEND & CHAPEL ROAD PLAN–PREAPPLICATION CONFERENCE:  Mark Janeck from Circle Land Company’s Land Development and Zoning said he had presented this proposal to the Village Board.  The original proposal (Plan “A”) had been modified after the Board’s comments (Plan “B”), and both are being presented to the Plan Commission as part of a pre-application conference.

It is the subdivision of a 150 acre parcel located at the northeast corner of Haeger’s Bend and Chapel Road in unincorporated McHenry County.  The current land use is farming.  It is being proposed to subdivide this parcel into 48 family lots, ranging in size from 1.7 to 5.5 acres with the average lot size of approximately 2.85 acres.

Both plans have three access locations, with Plan A having a through street connecting Haeger’s Bend and Chapel Road while the access roads in Plan B would end in a cul-de-sac.  Both proposed streets are shown with public right-of-way, though it is not expected they would be presented for public dedication.  Commissioner Majewski asked that the developer consider moving the access point on Haeger’s Bend either further north or south so as not to be directly across from an existing residence.

Mr. Janeck advised that the Board had asked that the lots along Haeger’s Bend and part of Chapel Road be 5 acres.  Plan B complied with that request, incorporating 11 5-acre lots along those roads.  Some of the lots to the east along Chapel Road would remain smaller in size.  The interior lots would range from 1.7 acres to 2 acres and those further east would be greater than 2 acres.

There is a stream running through the property from south to north.  Mr. Janeck assumed there would be an easement placed on that area, which would be between the lot lines.  As far as drainage, he said the parcel would contain several smaller detention basins and not require the construction of one or more larger basins.  An environmental analysis has been completed of wetlands, floodplain and soils. It was Mr. Janeck’s opinion there would be very little disturbance of existing trees believing that three-fourths would remain.  He said each residence would be custom designed to protect as many of the trees as possible.

Mr. Janeck said the property would require annexation and rezoning to include areas within the R-3 and R-4 districts.  The existing McHenry County zoning of the property is agricultural and upon annexation would be placed in the R-1 (five acre), R-3 (two acre) and R-4 (one acre) zoning districts of the Village.  Upon questioning, Mr. Kosin could not recall any similar change of zoning upon annexation to a density greater than that which it is in the County.

When asked if this would set a precedent with existing properties by allowing it to be subdivided into less than 5 acres, Mr. Kosin said no, noting that this zoning is occurring after annexation.  He said if it was left in unincorporated McHenry County, he didn’t know what density would prevail as other adjacent villages would have a role in that decision. Commissioner Majewski thought one acre may prevail, and questioned whether it would be desirable to annex this parcel in with the zoning requested in Plan B rather than allow it to remain in the County.  Commissioner Bosworth saw the benefit of annexation, but expressed concerns about the proposed density.

Special Counsel Gerald Callaghan said the proposal appeared to be consistent with surrounding zoning and land uses, and thought if it were not annexed then most likely it would be developed at a greater density.

Chairman Wolfgram suggested that Plan B be revised to combine 4 lots (Lots 34 and 35, and 45 and 46) into two 5-acre lots, so all lots along Chapel Hill and Haeger’s Bend would be 5 acre.  Mr. Callaghan believed with redesigning this could be done without even reducing the number of lots.

Dan Lundmark representing the Riding Club noted that currently there is only an equestrian trail designation on the eastern border, and asked if consideration could be given to having an easement around the entire perimeter.  It was pointed out that on the west side there is quite a bit of water on one lot, which would require a rider either going onto the street or deeper into the lot.  Mr. Janeck said he’d meet with the Village and the Riding Club.

Motion:  Commissioner Bosworth made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Schmechtig, that it was the sense of the Commission toward a favorable consideration of Plan B with modifications (i.e., combining 4 lots into two 5-acre lots along Chapel Hill Road and consideration to extending the equestrian trail around the entire perimeter) as it creates a buffer zone to existing residences with greater density.  It was further understood that this parcel is on the border and therefore the recommendation is not applicable to any future subdivision of an interior parcel.  Motion carried by voice vote.  (Commissioner Stieper voted nay.)

SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE AMENDMENT – EQUESTRIAN TRAILS:  Village Attorney Douglas Wambach presented a draft for consideration of the Plan Commission to amend the Subdivision Ordinance to include the creation of equestrian trails.  Mr. Wambach said enactment of this amendment would allow the Plan Commission and subsequently the Board to require that equestrian easements be granted through the subdivision process.  It did not preclude the developer’s ability to grant such easements directly to not-for-profit organizations, such as the Riding Club of Barrington Hills.  Mr. Wambach added that his draft was based on existing ordinances by similar “horse communities” such as Wayne, Illinois.

The Plan Commission expressed concerns involving increased liability, the fact that historically all but one subdivision willingly complied with the Commission’s recommendation for the creation of such easements, and the fact that many believed it a practice of such importance that it should be brought before the public in the form of a referendum, newsletter article, or placed on the website for community input.

Several representatives of the Riding Club, including Dan Lundmark, Christine Anderson and Karen Sullivan, spoke in favor of this amendment.  Resident Richard Lamkey also recommended this enactment because of the equestrian nature of Barrington Hills.

There was a consensus among the Plan Commission to defer a vote on this amendment until more input was received from the equestrian and non-equestrian community and until the issues of liability and insurance are clarified.  Chairman Wolfgram asked Mr. Lundmark to send a “position paper” explaining the basis for the Riding Club’s support for the amendment.  Chairman Wolfgram asked Trustee Sapp to advise the Board of the Commission’s concerns and reasons for not voting on the draft at this time.

PALOMA POINT SUBDIVISION – FINAL PLAT:  Jerome W. Pinderski, Jr., attorney for the applicant Jerry Umtiedt, as well as Robert Walker, Project Manager for Engineering Enterprises, Inc., were before the Commission for approval of the final plat for this 34.5 acre parcel located at the northeast corner of Braeburn and Spring Creek Roads.  The parcel consists of 39-1/2 acres proposed to be subdivided into 6 lots with an average lot width of 5.75 acres.

Mr. Pinderski said he had no issues with the majority of Village Engineer Todd Gordon’s comments in his memo of February 10^th, and said he would address them at resubmittal.  However, he believed the significant issue was of the storage volume to be provided in the existing and proposed retention basin on Lots 1, 2 and 3.  It was his opinion that the temporary detention represented a limited impact on the subdivision, and ultimately would be absorbed into the ground rather than discharged downstream.

Speaking on behalf of the office of the Village Engineer, Don Matthews explained that when plans were approved for construction of the residence at the southeast corner it caused a modification to the overall drainage in the area by increasing the overland flow from this depression.  The available storage of the depression was reduced in half.  The engineers have a disagreement as to “existing conditions” and the subsequent infiltration rate.  Mr. Matthews will meet with the applicant’s engineers, Engineering Enterprises, Inc., to address this issue prior to next month’s meeting of the Plan Commission.

Mr. Callaghan is currently reviewing the proposed Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCR’s).

No further action was taken on this proposal.

TRUSTEE’S REPORT:  Trustee Sapp said there was no report this month.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m. after being so moved and seconded.

Respectfully submitted,

Lou Anne Majewski

Recording Secretary