McLean County Times

Town of Normal Zoning Board of Appeals met June 20.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

Members Present:

Mr. Anderson, Ms. Brand, Mr. Moyer, Mr. Haywood, Mr. Coates

Members Absent:

Mr. Queen, Mr. Palmgren

Others Present:

Director of Inspections Greg Troemel, Corporation Counsel Kevin Sheahan, Town Planner Mercy Davison, Associate Planner Tessa Ferraro

Call to Order:

Mr. Anderson noted that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM. Approval of Minutes:

Ms. Brand moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of May 16, 2024. Mr. Haywood seconded.

Public Hearing:

a. 24-06-04-V: Variance to permit turnaround pad in required setback and along major collector roadway, 2005 N Towanda

Ms. Ferraro reviewed the staff report. 2005 N Towanda is a single family detached home with a three car garage. It is in the R1A zoning district. To the west of a property is an S-2 zoning district. The applicant has already installed a turnaround pad that the variance is requesting to permit. It is 16x13 ft and is perpendicular to the southern portion of the driveway. Turn around pads are permitted in this zone but there are specific criteria that permit them. The existing pad does not meet the required setbacks. The required set back is 5 ft from the property line and at the moment the existing pad only has 2 feet. The property owner is also asking for a road type variation. Turn around pads are permitted along arterial roads which typically have a higher volume of traffic. While portions of Towanda are considered arterial roads, this spot is classified as a major collector road. The pad does meet the other requirements.

Single family dwellings are entitled to have 4 parking spaces; however, a parking space is classified as being behind the front yard set back. Per the provided site plan, there is theoretically room for a parking space if they brought the driveway up to the side of the garage. In the past the Zoning Board has granted similar variances to the request at hand. The turnaround pad does have less pavement than if they were to bring the driveway up to the side of the garage for an additional space. The Zoning Board does prefer to see less pavement because it is better for stormwater, and it allows for more landscaping. The variation standards are reviewed in the staff report. In regard to harmony within the neighborhood, the property yielding a reasonable return and special circumstances for the property, staff found that the request met all three standards.

Mr. Anderson asked if the homeowner had any comments.

Josua Olson, 2005 N Towanda Ave, Normal, approached and stated that he was the owner of this property. He apologized for not meeting all of the necessary requirements. He stated that he had been at the address for 2 years. When he first purchased the property, he said that it had been pretty dated and overgrown. Since then, he has done the best he can make improvements.

He has 3 kids, 2 of which are drivers. Not being able to park in the street and having no way to turn around in the driveway has been difficult. He believed that the set of plans being referenced was from a neighbor who had a similar layout. The intention was to make the driveway as simple as possible while giving vehicles on the property room to safely turn around rather than back out.

Mr. Haywood said that he was familiar with the area of Towanda that the homeowner was referring to and he agreed that backing out into traffic in that area is difficult.

Mr. Anderson said he was curious about what research the homeowner had done about the zoning requirements.

The homeowner said that the contractor that poured the concrete thought he needed to have a 3 ft set back. After they poured the concrete, they realized that the property line wasn’t where they thought it was, which resulted in a 2 ft set back. Furthermore, the homeowner has since made his contractor aware that the set back for a parking pad is 3 ft, where as the setback for a turnaround is 5 ft.

Mr. Anderson asked if there had been any complaints from neighbors concerning the turnaround.

Ms. Davison said that she had received 2 phone calls in response to a sign that had been put up for the Zoning Board meeting. The sign had only stated that the meeting was for a “land use matter”. The callers had only wanted clarification and had no questions or complaints.

Mr. Troemel said that he had some members of the neighborhood ask if the turnaround was going to be used for parking. The code defines a parking pad and a turnaround pad as two different things. Because of this, there were concerns as to whether or not parking should be allowed on the property’s turnaround pad.

Ms. Brand asked if this inquiry came from the neighborhoods HOA and Mr. Troemel said yes. Ms. Brand asked if there was any parking available along the street. Mr. Troemel said no.

Mr. Troemel asked Mr. Sheahan if it would be acceptable to change the wording of the variation to be for a parking pad instead of a turnaround. Mr. Sheahan said no, technically that would not be allowed due to the variation having been filed for a turnaround pad.

Ms. Brand asked if the homeowner had a third garage stall and Mr. Troemel said yes. Mr. Haywood asked if other variances for turnaround pads permitted them to be used as a parking pad.

Mr. Troemel said no, this feature is essentially a parking pad that is perpendicular to the driveway as opposed to parallel. Mr. Troemel then stated that part of the concern from the neighbors was that occasionally, the homeowner has a small bus parked at his property.

The homeowner at this time explained that he is the executive director of the Livingston County Special Services Unit. Once a month they go to the Midwest Food Bank to collect food to distribute to low income families. As a result, several times a year the vehicle used for this transportation does end up being parked in his driveway. He believes that the presence of the bus may have caused some confusion in regard to the intent of the turnaround pad. The bus will not be in his driveway any more than usual. He does, however, intend to park other vehicles on the turnaround.

Mr. Haywood asked if the presence of the vehicle was more of an issue with Ironwood’s HOA, rather than being an issue for the Zoning Board.

Mr. Troemel said that he was familiar with Ironwood covenants and said that they do not specifically have language to that extent. He added as the Town’s Zoning Administrator, it is common practice to allow occasional parking for larger vehicles in special circumstances, and that there is specific language for larger vehicles to be permitted if they meet certain requirements.

Mr. Anderson added at this time that he couldn’t think of an instance where the Board had looked at a turnaround pad and he had not personally assumed that it would also be used as a parking pad. At this time, he closed the public portion of the meeting.

With no further questions or comments, Mr. Anderson called for a motion.

Ms. Brand moved that the Board approved the findings and decisions as stated in the staff report. Mr. Haywood seconded.

Mr. Anderson called for a vote.

All in favor: 5

Opposed: 0

The motion passed.

Mr. Anderson added that it is sometimes hard to minimize worries and discussion from neighborhoods and that he wanted to reiterate that Zoning Variations are done on a case by case basis.

Zoning Board Minutes 4 June 20th, 2024

With no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:25

https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5010