McLean County Times

Town of Normal Planning Commission met May 8.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

Members Present:

Mr. Broad, Mr. Ropp, Ms. Wodika, Mr. Matejka, Mr. McBride, Mr. Matthews

Members Absent:

Ms. Woods

Others Present:

Director of Planning & Zoning Mercy Davison, Planner Tessa Ferraro, Office Associate Hannah Neal, Corporation Counsel Jason Querciagrossa

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM by Chairman R.C. McBride.

Approval of Minutes:

Mr. Broad made a motion to approve the minutes from December 5, 2024. Mr. Ropp seconded this motion, and the minutes passed unanimously.

Public Hearing:

a. 25-05-03-PC: Zoning Map Amendment, Collie Ridge Subdivision, West Portion (PIN 14-22-176-006)

At this time Mr. McBride noted that there were three different actions to be voted on pertaining to the same parcel. All discussion regarding these actions is to be discussed under the above listed agenda item but voted on separately.

Ms. Davison opened by stating that she would be reviewing a zoning map amendment, an amended preliminary subdivision plan, and a preliminary planned unit development. She reiterated that all action items pertain to the same property in the Collie Ridge Subdivision. Collie Ridge was planned back in 2000 when it was rezoned to R-1B single family. It was 42 acres and included 157 lots for single family detached homes. At this time, 83 lots have been platted, and 83 homes have been built. All of Collie Ridge is R-1B and is primarily surrounded with R-1B, with some mixed zoning to the west of the property. There are 19.5 acres that yet need developed. It did come through a public process back in 2014 when there was an amendment to the subdivision plan. At the time the west half of Collie Ridge plan was amended from 74 lots to 80 lots. Per the Town code, a subdivision plan expires after three years of no activity, so for the developer to move forward they have to go through the public process again. In 2023, a potential developer submitted a proposal to rezone the vacant 19 ½ acres and get a new preliminary subdivision plan and PUD plan approved, with a development plan for multifamily. At the time the developer ran into issues with HOA covenants and withdrew the application prior to the public hearing. The covenant issue has since been resolved.

The current proposal from the same applicant is to rezone 17 acres as R-3A with the remainder of the parcel, about 2 ½ acres, being rezoned as R-2, which is a mixed residential density. This plan would include extending Vanderbilt Dr as a public street into a formal cul de sac. The first two lots on the end of Vanderbilt would be single family detached lots. The remaining lots to the west would be 16 attached duplex style units, or zero lot lines. The plan for the rest of the 17 acres would be one large lot for the multifamily area.

At this time Ms. Davison reviewed the PUD proposal. There would be a row of two-story town homes along the east edge of the development, just west of the backyards of the residents of Collie Ridge on Olmsted. The remaining buildings would be three-story multifamily apartments. There would be a large green space and gathering area through the center of the development that ends at a detention basin on the south end. This detention basin will be incorporated tastefully into the landscaping and will include sidewalk access. On the north end of the development there would also be a dry bottom detention basin. The perimeter of this basin would also include the necessary landscaping, including sidewalk access. She also presented the pedestrian circulation within the site, including a sidewalk connection allowing Collie Ridge residents access to Beech. Unlike the plan in 2023, the Vanderbilt cul de sac no longer has a private street connection to the PUD. The PUD would have two access points onto Beech Street and one access point onto Shelborne. The plan would include bicycle parking throughout the development, lots of greenspace, places for gathering as well as appropriate entrance signage.

Another difference between the previous 2023 plan and the current plan would be that there are two fewer lots in the R-2 area, as they converted two of the duplex/zero lot lines to single family detached where they are adjacent to the other single-family homes. This will help create a transition between R-1 and R-2. There would also be a significant buffer of landscaping between the different zoning classifications.

The plan as proposed does require a few waivers from code. Per the Manual of Practice, the cul de sac technically is too long and has too many units on it per code. There is also a place in the code pertaining to transitional setback requirements for R-1 zoning next to R-3 zoning where an additional 15 feet would be required. There is one building southwest of the Vanderbilt cul de sac that would require a variance to this portion of the code. A transitional height requirement kicks in when R-3 is next to R-1, normally only allowing two story buildings. In this case most of the buildings next to R-1 are two stories, but a piece of the multifamily building near Vanderbilt is a three-story building and is technically adjacent to the backyard of one single story house on Olmsted and to the backyard of two homes on Phaeton Place to the north, however there is quite a bit of distance between them. The 3-story multifamily building in the northwest corner of the PUD is also adjacent to two backyards on Phaeton Place.

Staff finds that the plan for this site is compatible with the Town’s Comprehensive Plan. There are a lot of positive benefits of this land being developed into a denser area. There are already infrastructure, utilities, parks, trail access, as well as other desirable destinations nearby. This does accomplish the Town’s desire for denser housing, although this plan does have lower density than the code could permit. It also meets the goals for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, as well as the Sustainability Plan, which are slightly more recent than the Comprehensive Plan. This is overall the kind of development that the Town is looking for on these kinds of infill sites in normal. Town staff recommends approval.

Mr. Matejka asked if the Town had performed traffic studies.

Ms. Davison said that the applicant’s engineer had conducted a traffic impact analysis. Staff has reviewed their report and are comfortable with the results.

Mr. Ropp asked if Ms. Davison could clarify if R-2 and R-3 are considered medium density developments. Knowing that the site is 19 ½ acres, it is his understanding that the developer could go up to 35 units per acre, allowing for roughly 680 units. The developer is requesting a total of 252 units in the R-3A area.

Ms. Davison said the Comprehensive Plan does discuss needing higher density, from 6-35 units per acre. However, per code the density maximum is 23 units per acre in an R-3A PUD. The developer is requesting 13 units per acre, which is well below the code’s maximum.

Mr. Ropp asked if there were other developments in the Town of Normal that Ms. Davison could compare to.

Ms. Davison said that overall, the density requested is not uncommon. It is actually possibly below average compared to other multifamily developments.

At this time, Mr. McBride called up Elizabeth Megli of 115 W Jefferson Street. She is an attorney from Livingston Garger representing the Collie Ridge, LLC, which is the owner and developer of Collie Ridge Subdivision.

Ms. Megli spoke regarding the covenant matter that was brought up during the previous application in 2023. Unlike some subdivisions where the land is brought in and made subject to covenants as they develop, all of the land in this matter was made subject to the covenants at once. Presently there is a 19.5-acre single lot on the west half of the subdivision. Clause 5 of the protective covenant allows the developer to waive or modify restrictions, reservations or covenants as they see fit on a lot. This is somewhat standard in covenants; it gives the developer the opportunity to look at the conditions and determine whether it makes sense to apply covenants against a particular builder or developer of a portion of the subdivision. In this case the developer has waived clause 2 of the covenants as to the development of the 19.5-acre lot. The developer provided notice to the residents that the clause had been waived in 2024.

Mr. Broad asked for an explanation for the modification of the covenants.

Ms. Megli said covenants can be variable in terms of the rights and legal obligations of the subdivision. In this particular case, it is not uncommon for the developer to provide some latitude based on the needs of the lot. It is also not uncommon for a developer the retain the right to modify covenants while they remain in ownership of lots within a subdivision. In this case, no covenants were amended or removed. This simply is following the process that allows the developer to waive covenants as to a particular builder on a particular lot.

With no further questions for Ms. Megli, the applicants were called forward: Bob Markunas, Farnsworth Group, 100 Walnut St, Ste 200, Peoria IL 61612 Andy Netzer, representing Worthington, LLC, and Young America Reality, 311 S Main St. Neil Finlen, Farnsworth Group, Bloomington, IL 61704

Mr. Netzer is the president and owner of Young America Reality. As a management company, Young America manages around 3000 housing units. They also have about 100 individual owners that they manage properties for. Their company has stewardship as its overall core value. They are stewards for the housing experience of 6000-7000 people in the community. He is confident that Town staff would report that Young America is among the top property managers in terms of responsiveness and cooperation. He went on to say that Young America is not a “build-to-sell” developer. They also believe in curb appeal and creating real estate assets they would like to keep in their portfolios for the foreseeable future.

Pivoting to the Collie Ridge project, they want to assure the community that they plan on focusing on design aesthetics. They are using an architect with a history of designing high end homes and has advised on several student housing buildings. This project will have a high-end Northeast coastal feel to it. They are planning on using engineered wood lap siding, similar to a shake style home. The community will be mostly apartments, but will also include townhomes, duplexes and single-family homes to buffer the existing single family from the apartments. As previously stated, this is considerably less dense than the code allows, and they are offering substantially greater common recreation space than the code requires.

In late 2023, they held a public meeting for the Collie Ridge neighborhood, with around 40-50 people in attendance. They have made two significant changes based on the feedback in that meeting. They had been showing a private lane connecting the cul de sac on Vanderbilt, which has been removed at the request of several neighbors. The other change was including the additional single-family lots adjacent to the existing single-family homes on Vanderbilt. The project is squarely in line with the Comprehensive Plan for the Town of Normal, which calls for more infill development. It specifically calls for multifamily to be considered in single family neighborhoods that have stalled, and in his opinion Collie Ridge has stalled. Of the 3000 units that Young America manages, it is about half and half student housing and non-student housing. The intention of this development would be non-student housing. They do not think this would be a good fit for student housing. The property today does not have a path to get completed as a single-family neighborhood, at least not without obtaining a state or federal affordable housing program of some sort. With that in consideration, the property is at a stalemate. The alternative would be the property remaining vacant.

Neil Finlen stated that he did not have much else to add other that this project would take advantage of a lot of existing utilities; the pipes needed are already in place. They have analyzed sanitary sewer capacities, which met their expectations. He added that this project will provide connections to water mains that are currently dead ended, which will help improve water quality. In regard to traffic, Farnsworth did analyze the area two weeks ago during the peak hours of the morning and the afternoon to make sure they had current information. The traffic increase from their analysis would not be considered significant and would not require improvements to the roadways or the intersection.

Mr. Markunas spoke on the traffic analysis. A study was done in 2023 to look at the intersections of Shelborne and Beech and found that there would be very minimal impacts to the public streets and that the traffic leaving the site would do so with acceptable delay. Another study was done more recently and the found that the average delay increased by no more than 2 seconds per vehicle, with the greatest increase to the east at 3.9 seconds per vehicle on that side. This is not found to be significant.

Mr. McBride asked if the commissioners had any questions for the applicants.

Ms. Wodika asked how many units The Lodge currently has, another property that Young America manages.

Mr. Netzer said that the Lodge has 146 units. He added that they usually measure student housing by beds, in which case The Lodge has 570 beds.

Ms. Wodika asked how many vehicles The Lodge holds.

Mr. Netzer said it is close to 75% capacity of the 570 parking spaces.

Mr. Matejka noted that the commissioners had been given a packet containing online complaints for Young America regarding general maintenance and property issues. He asked Mr. Netzer how he keeps up with property maintenance and how many employees he has on his maintenance staff.

Mr. Netzer said they have around 25 full-time maintenance employees. He added that the general population does have a tendency to only leave reviews if they have had a negative experience. It is uncommon for positive reviews to get posted. He assured the commissioners that anytime a complaint is submitted, they do their best to address the concerns in a timely manner. He added that Young America is in the business of customer service and acknowledges that if they are not taking care of their residents, they will go somewhere else.

Mr. Ropp asked to hear more about the meetings with the homeowners in 2023. Specifically, he wanted to know if there were any bigger issues that the homeowners had brought up regarding the Collie Ridge development that Young America did not address.

Mr. Netzer said the main frustration among the residents was that the land was not being developed into more single-family housing. And he does understand that that is frustrating. He said he has not received any comments about reducing density or to increase the setbacks. He said generally the residents wanted to know what the development was and voiced that they were not happy about the direction that the developers were headed.

Mr. Broad said he was impressed by many aspects of the development plan. This version of the plan makes an effort to try to address some of the concerns of the neighbors, particularly with the townhomes. They are not legally required to make the townhome two stories but did so to provide a buffer between the single family detached. However, the three-story buildings on the southeast corner of Captain's Circle seem like a missed opportunity to provide the nearby homeowners with a similar buffer. He wanted to know if Mr. Netzer had considered reducing the height of those buildings to two stories.

Mr. Netzer said they did consider this, but the balancing factor to consider was the aesthetics, as it would leave the development looking unbalanced.

Mr. Broad expressed concern that the neighbors near those buildings will be stuck looking at three stories in their backyard.

Ms. Wodika if there was any discussion to reduce all of the three stories throughout the complex to two.

Mr. Netzer said no, that was not discussed. The concern with that would be not having enough density to justify the cost of the project.

With no further questions from the Commission, Mr. McBride opened up the public portion of the hearing.

Ms. Kayla Delong of 445 Basswood Ln, Normal, IL approached and was sworn in. Ms. Delong has been a resident of Collie Ridge for the past 9 years. She is the HOA secretary of Linden Place Beechwood Commons as well as a local realtor. She adores the sense of connection in her neighborhood. She went through the amendment that was sent and wanted to highlight her concerns.

Regarding the suitability for single family residential development, she feels that the land is perfectly suitable for single family housing and added that this is something our community urgently needs. Normal currently only has 23 single family homes on the market with just 10 priced under $400,000. There only 4 attached homes (duplex, town houses, etc.) under 4 units. Meanwhile in Bloomington, there are 57 single family homes for sale, 28 under the price of $400,000 and 11 attached homes. This clearly shows the demand for single family housing. Why rezone land already set aside for this exact purpose? We should be meeting the current needs and utilizing the existing zoning and relocate this planned project to land that is intended for this purpose.

She went on to say that she acknowledges that this land has remained undeveloped since the Collie Ridge Subdivision was approved in 2000. But this does not mean that there has been no development in the area. Developments like Pheasent Ridge, Kelly Glen, Weldon Reserve, Blackstone Trails, Heather Ridge and Greystone Fields show that the area is active and growing. The lack of development on this parcel reflects the choice of the developer.

Staff mentioned nearby mixed zoning as justification for rezoning the parcel, but she felt this needed some context. One of the properties cited, 1 Normal Plaza, is not a good example. This is a preserved historic site. Its buildings are small with low impact businesses that were never designed to resemble modern commercial spaces. They were developed with care to fit into the community and not disrupt it. She also commented on the nearby ISU apartment complex, which was meant to be revitalized into luxury living, has been flipped and not properly maintained. A section of fencing on this property was knocked down and left for over 6 months before being removed instead of repaired. This is under the same property management group that wants to develop the Essex complex. She is concerned that this new development will have the same outcome. Overall, none of this justifies pushing high density development into a single-family neighborhood, and there are better places to build this complex. She also added concerns of increased traffic due to the addition of these multifamily units, which would be a safety risk to the numerous children in the neighborhood. Lastly, she expressed concerns of increased pollution, including light pollution, as well as the lack of privacy this will create for existing residents residing near the new complexes.

Mr. Jarred Rackauskas of 445 Beechwood Ct, Normal, IL approached and was sworn in. Mr. Rackauskas said that he walks along Beechwood almost daily, and for 6 months there has been a fence on his route that has been knocked down and dragged out onto the nearby lot. After about a week or two walking by the fence, his wife finally asked him if he could take care of it, partially due to a big metal plate that was sticking out near the sidewalk, which posed a safety concern. He is not an employee of Young America but went and handled it anyway. Since he has gotten it out of the way, Young America still has not come to remove it. He also has concerns with increasing the neighborhood density. Looking to the north dry basin he pointed out to the commissioners that that land was not being farmed, because of how much water the land holds. Considering the additional concrete and asphalt that this project requires, he does not believe that the basin will remain dry, and compared it to the basin behind Basswood, which holds a lot of water. He also has concerns about the age of the traffic study. To his knowledge, the most recent traffic study was done in 2020, at the height of COVID, and without consideration that the PUD exits would be there, which means all traffic will either be directed Shelbourne or Beech. His last concern is the increase of pollution and trash, again including the possibility of increased light pollution.

Lauren Kapraun of 701 Phaeton Pl, Normal, IL approached and was sworn in. Ms. Kapraun feels as if her area of the neighborhood has been forgotten. She resides in one of the homes that would be directly behind a 3-story building, which would have an impact on her privacy. She is a proud first-time home buyer and has lived in her home since 2022. She said as a millennial, buying a home was not easy, it took a lot of work, savings, and the process did not come without disappointments. She bought her home with the understanding that single family houses would be built behind her. She said she agrees that she wants Normal to grow but does not feel this is the right kind of growth. She has safety concerns about the increased density and cited national crime data. According to this, renters and multifamily housing are nearly 3 times more likely to experience serious violent crimes than areas with single family housing. She added that there have been several of these instances around other multifamily zoning in Normal. Regarding housing demand, the Town’s 2040 Vision Plan which claims a surplus of single-family homes is based on 2016 data, which is clearly outdated. The vacancy rate of single-family homes in Normal is under 4%, whereas a healthier rate would be 8-10%. Young individuals are desperate for more single-family homes. Finally, her greatest personal concern would be for her property values. Research shows that introducing high density apartment complexes into residential neighborhoods can deter future buyers. Covenants were put in place to ensure that this land would be used as single family, and overturning it would betray the trust of every homeowner who made life decisions based on those promises. At the very least, if this development must occur, she requests that a decent sized barrier be placed between the single-family homes and the new development. At this time, she provided the Commissioners with a list of references she used to find her data and concluded her statement.

Mary Carlisle of 404 Bright Dr, Normal IL approached and was sworn in. She stated that her comments were specifically for Mr. Netzer and Mr. Finle, and she commented that she finds it fascinating that when developments such as this come up, they are never proposed next to homes in the $500,000-$1,000,000 range. She speculated that her home was probably smaller than the garages of some of these properties. She respectfully asked for them to revert the plan for this property to single family. Bloomington-Normal badly needs single family homes for first time home buyers.

Mr. Philip Mitchell of 1404 N Maple approached and was sworn in. Mr. Mitchell asked staff about an earlier plan presented by the developer that was stopped by some covenants. The attorney for the developer mentioned some covenant issues as well. They were unresolvable previously, and he would like to know how they had been resolved.

Mr. Querciagrossa addressed Mr. Mitchell’s question. He said that covenants are private agreements between developers and homeowners, binding those parties to a contract. The Planning Commission and Town Council are not bound by these covenants. The previous covenant was voluntarily withdrawn, and the applicant has since resolved that portion of the covenant. From Mr. Querciagrossa’s understanding, the developer left himself an out in the covenant to carve this piece of land out. He reiterated that regardless, the Town of Normal is not a party to covenants.

Mr. Mitchell asked if municipalities typically rely on traffic estimates that were done by the developer.

Mr. Ryan Otto approached and addressed Mr. Mitchell’s question. He said yes, the analysis is typically done by qualified engineering firms, and then the reports are reviewed by Town staff.

Kylie (a minor), resident of Normal, approached and was sworn in. Kylie said she lives by the open land being discussed. Right now, the street and nearby vacant land is her playground. It’s where she learned how to ride her bike and where she plays with her friends. At first, she was excited at the thought of land being developed and thought it would be an opportunity for her to make new friends. However, when she found out that the buildings would be apartments and not houses, she got scared. The thought of 500 more cars on her street sounded noisy and dangerous. With this many cars, it wouldn’t be the same happy safe place anymore. She asked the Commission to consider herself and the other neighborhood kids when making their decision.

Luke Funfar of 914 Chippewa St, Normal IL approached and was sworn in. Mr. Funfar has been a resident of the neighborhood since 2005 and is here to ask the commission to protect the peace of their neighborhood by voting no on this development. For 19 years his family has enjoyed a peaceful, quiet and safe life in Savannah Green with few disturbances or noise complaints. That changed last summer when the new Constitution Trail extension revealed 1 Normal Plaza to the college students, who regularly brought large parties to the park on nights and weekends. Since then, they have noticed an increase in congested streets, loud chanting, loud and sometimes profane music, litter, and sometimes even violence. These issues make relaxing in his home difficult. Violent fistfights have not been uncommon, and one even ended up in his neighbor's front yard, which prompted a call to the police. These issues have increasingly caused him to fear for his safety and his family’s safety in their own home. If this much disruption can be caused by a bike trail, he is very concerned with what issues will arise with the addition of an apartment complex. He urges the commission to vote this development down and put these multifamily units elsewhere.

Mr. Matejka asked Mr. Mitchell to clarify where the parties were occurring. Mr. Mitchell said they were happening near the southwest end of Savannah Green.

Ms. Beth Rooker of 805 Vanderbilt Dr, approached and was sworn in. Ms. Rooker stated that she was the second house to the end of the cul de sac. She had emailed Ms. Davison asking if she could arrange a way for her to speak to the developer. Ms. Davison had replied that she would not be able to arrange that communication. Ms. Rooker was disappointed by this and felt as a taxpayer she should be granted assistance for this request. The idea of this development moving forward upsets her because she is worried her property value will go down. She added that the Town of Normal has increased her property taxes by 7%, and she worried about where she is going to come up with the money for this increase. At this time, she addressed the developers and asked them to not move forward with the apartment development. She expressed disappointment in the changing of the covenants and said that it did not speak well to the developer's integrity. She added that she works for Unit 5 and is also concerned that this development will contribute to increased classroom sizes and staffing issues that the local schools are already facing. She said the schools were at capacity and could not handle another increase of the student body.

Nur Qatanani of 545 Beechwood Ct approached and was sworn in. Mr. Qatanani said that he just graduated from Illinois Wesleyan, and that he and his family moved to 545 Beechwood his freshman year of college. He said he has a lot of friends in his life that are graduating and moving back in with their parents. As a younger generation, the idea of owning a home does not seem feasible given the current economic climate, and that his generation has trouble even renting at this point in time. He does not think adding more apartment complexes is a solution to this problem. This development has been described as luxury apartments which is not what people in his age group are looking for. Looking at the presentation, he notices a lot of concrete and parking spots. This will not help increase the neighborhood’s walking areas or green space. It seems to him more of an attempt to make as much money as possible off of the land, and he does not see that as an improvement to the community. He feels affordable, duplex style homes would be a better use of the space. He would overall like to see Normal provide more options for starter homes.

Matt Meuser of 505 Basswood Ln approached and was sworn in. Mr. Meuser said that the three story building will be at the end of his street, 174 yards from his home, where his children along with the rest of the neighborhood children play every night. The amount of traffic that comes through his neighborhood has already caused significant trouble. He is concerned about the safety of his children and his neighbors' children. 2 years ago, while at Fort Knox, he received a call from the police at 6 AM informing him that there was an officer at his door. He tried to call his wife and could not get through. Eventually he found out that there was a person driving through his street that did not belong there that completely destroyed a street pole. He felt that this car very easily could have hit a child instead. In all the information that had been discussed about traffic studies for this development, he would like to know what the developer plans on doing to prevent issues like this from occurring. He would also like to know how many calls to the local police department have been made recently regarding a Young America property. Lastly, he voiced concerns for the local school, stating that the building was old and already overfilled. He does not want the burden of having to build a new school to compensate for the increased density to fall on the taxpayers.

Ms. Vickie Snyder of 1508 Donegal Dr approached and was sworn in. Prior to the meeting she provided the Planning Commission copies of a handout citing her sources for the points she would like to discuss. A copy is on file at the clerk's office. Her family has lived in the neighborhood since 2009. She had three points regarding her opposition, the first being property values and quality of life. This addition will affect property values and bring in more transient population. Savannah Green has deteriorated since it was first built 20 years ago. There has been an increase in parking issues, trash, lawn issues, etc. She is worried the same thing will happen at this new property managed by YA. The second concern she had was with the traffic report. The traffic reports given to the commission were from 2015. At this time, it was reported that the average daily traffic on Shelbourne was 5,900 and on Beech that figure was around 1,700. She added that this report is 10 years old and no longer correct, since there has been more development in Savannah Green and several town homes added on Henry. This is not considering the added traffic that will come from the apartments currently being built on Beech, just north of Prairieland elementary. Towanda will be gridlocked at peak traffic times. This development is proposing the additions of 252 units. If each unit only has one car, that will add almost 300 cars to traffic in this area during rush hour. The current wait time at the left for Towanda turning onto Fort Jesse can be up to 3-5 minutes, or 3 traffic light changes. Her third and final concern was the property upkeep of Young America. Young America has been involved with student housing for years, and there have been a lot of student complaints. She is concerned that the new development will increase the number of students living in the neighborhood. She pointed out that one property managed by Young America, 300 E Shelbourne, is in disrepair. There is graffiti, unearthed poles, piles of dirt, and unmaintained landscaping. Overall, the property was not maintained and is now inhabitable. She believes that Young America’s inconsistent management will eventually lead to the proposed new development having the same issues. There is already an apartment complex being developed in the area and she sees no need for another.

David Bentlin of 403 Carriage Hills approached and was sworn in. Mr. Bentlin read through the report and had some observations. He does support the plan to rezone. He has heard a lot about the unhoused, how tight the market is, and waiting lists being long. These potential citizens are being underserved. He knows there are concerns but he feels that there is a need for more multifamily housing. He has been in this community since 1980. Growth is inevitable; people want to live in our community for a variety of reasons. In the spirit of housing being a human right, he encourages the commission to approve the rezoning. He said that most people in the room were likely apartment dwellers at some point and felt we were all good people.

Mr. Gregory McGraw of 806 Dresser Dr approached and was sworn in. Mr. McGraw is against the zoning change. He said in January of 2024, the state of Illinois put in a law stating that all new development requires an EV connection. He did not see this presented in the plans and wanted to know if they would be present.

Ms. Davison said that would be a building code issue, and the developer would have to meet whatever the law is at the time of the development.

Mr. McGraw is concerned with the fact that these have been described as “luxury” apartments. When he thinks of luxury apartments, he assumes that means covered parking, clubhouses, more playgrounds, places for packages to be left. His son currently lives in a “luxury” apartment complex with these amenities and pays around $1300 a month. He has heard that the rent for these apartments is going to be much higher. He wants to know what it would take for this parcel to be developed for single family housing. When he moved here in 2012, he was promised that it would be single family.

Jasper Quain of 1616 Brougham St approached and was sworn in. He and his wife walk about a 2-3 mile radius around their home and see houses for lease and other apartments being built. He does not feel this area of Collie Ridge is a good area for apartments. The streets have a lot of traffic. He and his wife already have issues crossing the street. He thinks Shelbourne and Beech are already maxed out concerning how much traffic they can handle.

Dean Kunz of 1403 Beech Street approached and was sworn in. He has lived at this address for 51 years. He is a longtime resident of the area and has seen a lot of things happen. He questions the criteria that was used to determine if we have a housing shortage in Bloomington- Normal. There are other properties that he feels would be more suitable that won’t impact the community negatively. He understands that there is a property on Raab and Linden that is for sale. He speculated that the developers are looking to turn a profit on the land. The value of their homes will go down. He has put a lot of renovations into his own home and the value is very important to his estate. Why is the financial gain of 1 company more important than the 100s of people this project will affect? He lives 3 doors down from the intersection of Beech and Shelbourne and has trouble pulling out of his driveway. The noise is also a concern. As of now there are several regular cars that drive irresponsibly through the neighborhood at all times of the day. He said that this isn’t the first time his neighborhood has come together to protect their community. There were once plans to put a brewery in, and the neighborhood came together then and stopped it. There was also an instance where the Town wanted to put 3-story apartments, and the neighborhood had issues with it then. Regarding the covenant, he does not feel the covenant was changed in a way that benefited the residents. He asked if others in the room would want something like this going up near them. He said that the commission and staff should answer to the residents of the city and not the developers.

Brenda Travis-Qatanani of 545 Beechwood Ct approached and was sworn in. She mentioned that her son spoke previously and confirmed that they moved to the neighborhood his freshman year of college. Many people have voiced their desire for more single-family housing. Any single family home that goes on the market doesn’t last, and the homes that are hitting the market are going for thousands of dollars above their listing price. From Beechwood to Shelbourne to Linden it feels like a peaceful, quiet neighborhood. She cannot imagine adding 500 more people to the neighborhood. She asked for the commissioners to show some empathy.

(There was a 10-minute recess between 7:10 and 7:20 PM.)

Tom Hansen of 1402 N Maple St, Normal, IL approached and was sworn in. Mr. Hansen stated that he had been at his address for 30 years. He thanked Ms. Davison for addressing some of his questions prior to the meeting. After looking over the report he noticed that the traffic analysis was based on data from 2015, which he does not feel can be accurate. He has also heard that there is another development being put into the west of his neighborhood. With all of the potential for traffic increase he is worried that the traffic data being collected is wrong. If it is wrong, there is no possibility of adding extra lanes to Beech St to compensate. He also commented that the area is surrounded with 2-story structures. He does not feel that three-story developments would be appropriate. At the very least he would like the 3-story buildings to be reduced to 2 stories.

Michael Merrick of 1605 Bensington Ct, Normal, IL approached and was sworn in. He had concerns about the traffic study. He heard figures from Farnsworth about how long a car would have to wait, and he wanted to know what the maximum predicted wait time would be.

Mr. Markunas came forward and said it would be 21.8 seconds from the back of the line currently. After construction it is anticipated to be 25 seconds.

Tracy Evans of 703 Phaeton Pl approached and was sworn in. She directed her comments towards Mr. Netzer. She stated that neither her or her neighbors have ever had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Netzer about this development directly and added that they at no point were invited to any meetings to discuss. She lives directly behind Captain’s Circle on the east side. All of the increased traffic in that area will mean an increase of headlights in her backyard. She added that she is a gardener and placing a 3-story building behind her would block all of the sun from her south facing lawn. She is also concerned about water build up, particularly in her basement.

Rick Stallman of 1513 Olmsted Rd approached and was sworn in. He lives directly next to where the complex will be placed. These units would be in his backyard. He wanted to know if any of the units going to be subsidized or Section 8 eligible. He bought his house in 2004 and has lived there for 21 years. He was made aware of the covenants at the time he moved in and was promised that it would remain single family. He didn’t do a lot of things on his own property that he wanted to do due to these covenants. He did not expand his driveway, build a shed in his backyard, or put a pool in his backyard because of these covenants. He views the covenants like a promise and feels as if he has upheld his end. The developer has not.

Mike Zigmond of 590 Basswood Ln approached and was sworn in. He lives on the corner of Basswood and Beech. He has concerns about the one-way streets included on the plans. If the proposed development only has two spots per unit, he wants to know where services such as Amazon or Door Dash going to park. He also only sees two trash pick ups for the whole neighborhood. He wants to know how many garbage trucks are going to come through the apartment complex daily to pick up garbage. Overall, he is worried that all of these issues are going to make the neighborhood too congested. In his experience, especially in the summer, congestion increases irritability and irritability leads to conflict. He said that he had spoken to 32 other neighbors in his community that could not attend this meeting and wanted to pass on that they were also opposed to this development.

Mr. Michael Brown of 900 Vanderbilt Dr approached and was sworn in. He wanted to address the covenants. The clause that was used to waive the conditions were typically used for one parcel, not for whole lots. He believes that the developer got around the covenant by combining the land into one parcel. He thinks that this was a very dishonest thing for the developer to do.

Ms. Sue Parton of 903 Vanderbilt approached and was sworn in. She echoed previous concerns that this complex was going to be in close proximity to her home and stated that the developer was dishonest with the residents of the neighborhood. She wanted to know how many bedrooms were meant to be included in the potential multifamily buildings.

Brendon Nussbaum of 1502 Biltmore Ct approached and was sworn in. He is against the development and asked for the Planning Commission to reject this proposal. He wanted to know if staff had done a bigger traffic analysis including Towanda Avenue. There are 986 units in total meant to go including Carden Springs, the development behind Heartland Church, the Essex, and The Spot. He is very concerned that all of the new multifamily units are going to cause a bottleneck in traffic.

At this time, Mr. McBride closed the public portion of the hearing and called Mr. Ryan Otto back up to address some questions.

Mr. McBride said that it was his understanding that with more storm water detentino areas, the concerns the residents had about water would be addressed.

Mr. Otto said yes and that the storm water detention will meet town code. Right now, the area drains to the west and across Beech St. The proposed development includes two detention basins, one dry bottom and one wet bottom. He explained a dry bottom is usually grass and a wet bottom has a pool of water, resembling a pond.

Mr. McBride also asked Mr. Otto how the Town evaluates traffic on an ongoing basis within a growing community.

Mr. Otto said for all intersections they monitor traffic signals, complaints, patterns, accidents, comments from staff and comments from residents. They also work closely with IDOT to measure average daily traffic on a regular basis. For developments such as this, they work with engineering firms for site distance for driveways, roads, etc.

Mr. McBride asked Mr. Otto if he had any concerns about the data traffic presented for this project.

Mr. Otto said no, he did not.

Ms. Wodika asked how pedestrian safety was measured during the traffic study, given that a lot of residents voiced concerns over this issue.

Mr. Otto said that the site distance addresses the concern for safety - both vertical site distance and offset distances or obstructions within the right of way. He believes the existing roadways will be able to handle the increase.

Ms. Wodika also asked about the concerns that some of the residents had with light pollution.

Ms. Davison said that typically what staff looks for in terms of light pollution is for stationary lights, such as parking lot lights. The code does not discuss the use of headlights when describing light pollution.

Mr. Broad asked if Mr. Otto had any comments on some of the concerns that were raised about the age of the traffic report.

Mr. Markunas addressed this question. He said he had used the data from 2015 as it was the best sample he had on hand. There was a study done in 2020 but due to COVID it was not accurate. In addition to the 2015 traffic study, Mr. Markunas did perform a brief study on April 24th during peak hours. As a rule of thumb, the peak hour traffic is about 10% of the average daily traffic. Based on that they found that the estimated ADT today was 6200, and in 2015 it was 5900, which averages about half a percent increase per year, which they do not consider to be significant. On Beech the estimated ADT was 1600 per day, compared to 1700 in 2015. Overall, they find the data to be very similar.

One member of the audience had a question about a statement that Mr. Otto made, so Mr. McBride allowed him to come forward.

Erik Clark of 804 Dresser Dr approached and was sworn in.

He asked about the depth of the wet basin on the southwest side and wanted to know if there should be concern about standing water.

Mr. Otto said the basin will be designed to be deep enough that the water would not be stagnant.

Mr. Netzer was asked by Mr. McBride to come forward. He was accompanied by his attorney, Pat Fitzgerald of 306 W Church St. Champaign, IL.

Mr. Ropp stated that there had been a lot of concern about screening the development from the surrounding single-family homes. He asked if Mr. Netzer could speak to the landscaping intent.

The landscaping has not been fully planned out at this point. Looking at other buildings that YA has developed in the last 15 years he feels you would see examples of previous landscaping that has been done.

Mr. Ropp said since landscaping can take time to fill in, he wanted to know if Mr. Netzer had any alternative ideas to pacify the homeowners, perhaps fencing or some other structure.

Mr. Netzer said it could be possible. He said that his team would welcome the condition of reasonable landscaping. He would not be in favor of a fence.

Mr. McBride asked if Mr. Netzer could speak in detail about the waste collection that would be included in the development.

Mr. Finlen said that there would be 9 dumpsters spread throughout the site. They would all be within reasonable walking distance of the buildings.

Mr. McBride asked how many bedrooms would be included in the multifamily buildings.

Mr. Netzer said there would be a range of 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units available. The 2-bedroom units would be the most common. There would be no 4-bedroom units.

Mr. McBride asked how the residents were contacted to organize the public meetings that were previously mentioned.

Mr. Netzer said they were contacted through a mailing list provided by Town staff.

Mr. McBride asked about the property that was mentioned by several residents that had the fence issue. He asked Mr. Netzer if he could clarify that Young America manages the property and does not own the property.

Mr. Fitzgerald asked Mr. Netzer if he controlled the budget for that property and Mr. Netzer said no, and emphasized that it has third party management. Mr. Netzer added that he knows the current owner of that property is working hard to get it up to community standards.

Mr. Matthews asked if the if the proposed development would be eligible to subsidized or Section 8 eligible.

Mr. Netzer said that Young America generally has not participated in tax-credit subsidized programs in their properties.

Mr. McBride allowed Ms. Delong, who had spoken previously to come up and make a comment.

Ms. Delong stated that under Illinois Fair Housing Law, any rental unit that is 4 units or above has to allow for Section 8.

Mr. Netzer added that Illinois does not allow for landlords to restrict an applicant based on source of income such as Section 8. He clarified that there are specific programs where a landlord would set aside part or all of a property for subsidized units, and Young America has not done that.

Ms. Davison had a few comments to address a few of the concerns previously mentioned. Town code does not require any sort of informal meeting prior to a public hearing. In this case she would have to go back and look at what mailing list was provided to the developer in 2023. She does recall at the time that the covenant issue had recently surfaced. She added that Staff does send out notice to everyone that owns property within 400 ft of a project. On occasion they will extend the perimeter depending on the project.

Regarding the landscaping plan, she wanted to emphasize that the presented images were just a sample, and the actual landscaping will be very dense. There may be a period of time when the plantings hadn’t filled out but in time, but ultimately they will provide appropriate coverage.

Coming back to the concerns with headlights, she said that no neighborhood is exempt from headlight issues. In any neighborhood, there are headlight impacts at the corners and intersections. It’s not that she doesn’t hear the concerns that the residents had raised regarding them, but it’s just not something that the Code addresses.

Mr. McBride reminded everyone before he called for a vote that the Commission had three separate items to address and that each would be voted on separately.

Mr. Querciagrossa reviewed the guardrails that Planning Commission legally has to observe. He emphasized that regardless of the outcome of Planning Commission, ultimately Town Council will have the final decision.

Mr. McBride called for a motion for the Zoning Map Amendment.

Mr. Matejka moved to reject the findings and recommendations as proposed by staff because the zoning is incompatible with surrounding zonings. Mr. Broad seconded.

Mr. Querciagrossa said that procedurally the Commission needs to lead with a motion that it is written on paper. Alternatively, he said that the Commission can amend the findings as proposed.

Mr. Matejka withdrew his motion. He then moved to adopt the findings and recommendations as proposed by staff and Mr. Broad seconded.

Mr. Matejka then asked to amend 1.5.1 which reads “The Property is suitable for development as a range of residential densities, including the current R-1B classification, and the Comprehensive Plan encourages higher densities and greater housing diversity.” He moved to reject that finding and amend it to say, “The Property is not suitable for development as a range of residential densities, and the Comprehensive Plans encourages higher densities and greater housing diversity.”

Ms. Wodika seconded.

Mr. McBride asked if there was discussion on the amendment.

Mr. Matejka said that he felt the residents had raised some valid points. He would like to see the developer come back with a plan with less height and that is less dense.

Mr. McBride called for a vote.

All in Favor: Ms. Wodika, Mr. Matejka

Opposed: Mr. Broad, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Ropp, Mr. McBride

The motion does not pass with a vote of 4-2, leaving the original motion on the floor. Mr. McBride asked if there was any further discussion on the original motion.

Mr. Matejka said that the residents have raised some very valid long-term concerns He also acknowledge that the developer has created some very good properties in this community. He agrees that there is a need for multifamily rental properties but would like to see the development done in a way that is more compatible with the existing neighborhood.

Mr. McBride said he had some concerns with some of the 3-story buildings, but they would be better discussed under one of the other items. He did ask if any other commissioners had similar concerns.

Mr. Broad said that he did have concerns with the height of the building but agreed that it would not be suitable to discuss under the motion regarding the property’s zoning.

Mr. McBride called for a vote on the original motion.

All in favor: 6

Opposed: none

The motion carried.

Mr. McBride said the next item would be the Amended Preliminary Subdivision Plan.

Ms. Davison explained that the Subdivision Plan is strictly the lot layout and the public street extension of Vanderbilt, so it does not talk about how the structures would be built.

Mr. Matejka asked a clarification question. Under the third motion on the PUD, item 1.3 specifically speaks to the construction of 6 2-story buildings and 12 3-story buildings. He wanted to know if that would be an appropriate place to make a recommendation about building height and lot density.

Mr. Querciagrossa said not quite. That paragraph is specifically talking about the plan as it has been proposed. But he could include conditions in the recommendation portion of the findings.

Mr. Matejka made a motion to adopt the findings and recommendations as proposed by staff. Mr. Ropp seconded.

Mr. McBride called for a vote.

All in favor: 6

Opposed: none

The motion carried.

Mr. McBride said that the final item of the evening was the Preliminary Development Plan.

Mr. Matejka moved to adopt the findings and recommendations as proposed by staff, exempting variance 2.1.5.

Ms. Davison asked if Mr. Matejka wanted to not permit 3 stories anywhere or only the ones adjacent to the R-1 properties. She compared it to the Carden Springs PUD, which had a similar situation, and ended up only doing 2-story buildings for everything adjacent to single-family.

Mr. Matejka asked if the variance for 2.1.5 could read that 3-story multifamily buildings may not be allowed next to R-1B zoning.

Ms. Davison referenced the map and noted that only 1/3rd of the building near Vanderbilt is adjacent to R-1, because the other 2/3rds of the building is next to the cul de sac in R-2. There is also single family to the north and to the west.

After some advisement from Mr. Querciagrossa and further discussion from commissioners, Mr. Matthews made a motion to adopt the findings and recommendations as proposed by Staff with the exception of 2.1.5, a variance from §15.4-5(B)(3) to permit 3-story multifamily buildings as depicted on the Preliminary PUD Plan, except for those buildings located on Captains Circle.

Mr. Matejka seconded.

All in favor: 6

Opposed: none

The motion carried.

Mr. McBride said that all items pertaining to this parcel would be on the agenda of the council meeting on Monday, May 19th.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:31 PM.

Inspections and Planning Associate

https://www.normalil.gov/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/5281