Aldermen discuss traffic congestion, respect for Downtown Plan
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
At its meeting on Monday, May 6, the Elmhurst City Council approved conditional use for a 92-foot-high, eight-story apartment building at 183, 189, 191 Addison Avenue. It prompted a discussion among alderman regarding how much density the rental building would bring to downtown and what affect it would have on traffic flow and safety.
“This is a report for a proposed new development in the core for our downtown, which calls for higher density, residential and mixed-use uses within the core,” said 4th Ward Alderman Noel Talluto, Vice Chair of the City’s Development, Planning & Zoning (DPZ) Committee. “The applicant here is requesting both a conditional use for a higher building height, eight stories vs. the allowed 77 feet; a variation on the front yard setback requirement, which is actually a reverse variation, a variation backwards or away; a variation on the private parking garage space length requirement and the aisle width requirement.”
Ald. Mike Brennan (7th Ward) asked what the additional two stories would be used for or how many units it would accommodate.
“The reason I brought it up is because I talked to several residents about downtown development and one recurring concern is … traffic congestion,” he said, adding that two stories won’t make that much of a difference in traffic flow concerns. “I was happy to see that we’ll have an ordinance in place to do a holistic traffic study. “The traffic studies were specific to that unit – but to have a holistic traffic report that covers the entire downtown would be an invaluable tool toward making decisions about these variances in the future.”
Talluto responded.
“There is a holistic traffic study we just approved, I heard a lot of those same concerns as well,” she said. “The study done for this project was specific, but the increased demand or traffic coming from this development continues to keep the traffic on Addison graded at a level A or B of service, which is at the top of level of service – service levels are graded from A to F.
“In the traffic study forthcoming this summer, we’ll get additional recommendations on continue to improve traffic flow through the downtown.”
“This project has been before the City for some period of time, we’ve heard from lots feedback from residents,” said Ald. Marti Deuter (1st). “What I keep coming back to is that we changed our downtown zoning. I didn’t support those changes when they came before us a couple of years ago, but that is our code now. I look at this project as consistent with what our code now allows. We have a process to ask for relief, in this case, conditional use and the variations, and this applicant went through the process. I am in agreement with the findings of the ZPC and DPZ that they have met the standards.
“So regardless of my personal perspective, I don’t think I can be arbitrary about how the code is applied. I do think as a Council we can work together to make sure those zoning changes that are now allowed in our downtown work as well as they can and that we can manage development as well as we can.
“I support the proposal that is before us tonight.”
“They are asking for conditional use approval from six stories by right to eight stories tall and I think that’s an acceptable thing, but it is a significant ‘ask’ to do that,” said Alderman Bob Dunn (2nd). “When applicants come to the City with developments, I want to see that the City follows our Downtown Plan, particularly our guidelines for architectural styles and building materials.
“I realize we can’t legislate style, but when I look at it, I have questions as to whether it is actually in the spirit of following those architectural guidelines. I think if someone comes in with a significant request for variations, we need to sit down and have a serious discussion to make sure those plans meet with our Downtown Plan.”
Dunn read a few examples from the Downtown Plan, noting that it calls for earth tone stone ranging from masonry brick to stones.
“We also call out what not to use like aluminum siding, plastic panels, concrete form board, etc.,” he said. “I would like to see the applicant take our downtown guidelines a little more seriously. I’m not really satisfied at this point that the applicant is very focused on working with our design guidelines and specifically what is laid out in our Downtown Plan. I’m sure the structure is sound and the units are probably well-appointed, but on the outside, I don’t know. Let’s face it, 98% of the people only see the outside of our downtown buildings.
“I will not be able to support this tonight.”
Ald. Polomsky asked for clarification on the building materials being earth tone brick or stone.
Mayor Morley asked her to clarify her question: was she asking what materials would be used or if they are allowed by our code? Alderman Mark Mulliner (7th), also a member of the DPZ Committee, offered a reply.
“First of all, they do meet the building code,” he said. “Second, we’re dealing with a zoning issue, it’s not about the building itself, we’re dealing with a few zoning variances. There is a TIF ask coming and more than likely that calls for us to refine it a little bit, if we’re not happy with their appearance, we can negotiate with the applicant.
“This will also allow us to get the PUD [Planned Urban Development] passed because once that is passed, it will give us more right to ask for what we really want in the downtown.”
Alderman Michael Bram (3rd Ward) felt the biggest challenge was that adding this much density could also cause issues with our aging sanitary system. He noted there had been sanitary issues during past flooding incidents and at this time, it is not known how this development or other future projects will impact utilities like sanitary.
“I feel like that hasn’t been answered and without that, I cannot support this report,” he said.
Mulliner spoke up again, saying that the building was going to have a green roof, which would retain more water on the property than would otherwise be possible. He also said that, regarding utilities and stress on the sanitary system, the developer did a “model” process, which is a way of testing to see if the utilities are adequate to serve the property. The “model” assessment found them to be acceptable.
With that, the vote was called and the measure passed 10-3 with 1 absent. Yea votes came from Aldermen Talluto, Mulliner, Brennan, Deuter, Mark Sabatino (1st), Norm Leader (2nd), Kevin York (4th), Tina Park (5th), Scott Levin (5th), and Jim Kennedy (6th).
Those voting ‘nay’ were Aldermen Polomsky, Dunn and Bram. Alderman Michael Honquest (6th) was absent.
