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WEST CHICAGO
WHERE HISTORY & PROGRESS MEET
Approved 10/6/20
MINUTES
PLAN COMMISSION/ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
AUGUST 4, 2020 7:00 P.M.
1. Call to Order, Roll Call and Establishment of a Quorum
Chairperson Laimins called the meeting to order via “Zoom” at 7:00 p.m. Roll call found
commissioners Laimins, Hale, Dettman, Henkin, Devitt, and ex-officio member Banasiak present.
Commissioners Faught and Kasprak were excused. A quorum was established. All members were
participating through “Zoom”.
Also in attendance through “Zoom” was City Planner John Sterrett and Community Development
Director Tom Dabareiner.
2. Chairman’s Comments
Chairperson Laimins stated that all votes would be by roll call and that all discussion on an item,
including the recommendation, would occur during the public hearing. Also, no new evidence may
be entered into the record during the hearings. Chairperson Laimins also stated that Mayor Pineda
has stated that in person meetings are not practical nor prudent at this time.
3. Approval of Meeting Minutes
Commissioner Hale made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Devitt, to approve the draft
meeting minutes of the July 7, 2020 Plan Commission. With a roll call vote of all those present,
voting aye, the motion carried.
4. Public Hearing and Review of Case PC 20-07, Zoning Variance
Commissioner Dettman made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Devitt, to open the public
hearing. With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried.
Mr. Sterrett stated that Amazon, located at 808 Discovery Drive in the DuPage Business Center in
the Airport District, is seeking approval of a zoning variance to allow four freestanding signs on the
subject property in lieu of the maximum one freestanding sign permitted.
The property is approximately 40 acres and contains a recently constructed 145,000 square foot
warehouse/distribution facility operated by Amazon. The majority of the site consists of parking for
Amazon delivery vehicles as well as loading areas for these vehicles at the building. The property
contains frontage around almost the entirety of the site with roughly 4,400 linear feet of frontage
along Discovery Drive. The site contains four (4) separate entrances off Discovery Drive, each
accessing a different parking/loading area on the site.
One of the freestanding signs is located at the main entrance for customer and employee parking
containing 70 square feet. The other 3 signs are more directional in nature consisting of 30 square
475 Main Street T (630) 293-2200 Ruben Pineda
West Chicago, Illinois F (630) 293-3028 aan
60185 www.westchicago.org Nancy M. Smith Michael L. Guttman
CITY CLERK CITY ADMINISTRATOR

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feet and located at the entrances to the site for delivery vehicles and vans. Because of the size of
these signs directing traffic, they are too large to be considered exempt directional signs.
Given the size of the property, and the amount of frontage the property contains, plus the amount of
access points, the petitioner is maximizing the visibility of these signs at the entrances to facilitate
the orderly flow of delivery traffic.
Staff recommends approval of the requests with the conditions outlined in the staff report.
With no comments from the public or further discussion, Commissioner Henkin made a motion,
seconded by Commissioner Dettman to recommend approval of the Zoning Variance. With a roll
call vote of all present voting aye, the motion carried.
Mr. Sterrett stated that the petition will be discussed at the August 10!" Development Committee
meeting.
Commissioner Dettman made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Henkin, to close the public
hearing. With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried.
5. Review of Case PC 20-09, Zoning Variance
Commissioner Hale made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Devitt, to open the public hearing.
With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried.
Mr. Sterrett stated that Michael Hughes of Graham C-Stores at 250 South Neltnor Boulevard
located in the B-2 Central Business District is seeking zoning variances to previous legal
nonconforming freestanding sign to be rebuilt in the previous location.
The property, approximately 15,800 square feet in size, is located at the northwest corner of Main
Street and Neltnor Boulevard and used as a Citgo Gas Station with a convenience store and
associated gas pump canopy. The property contains four (4) full access points, two (2) on each
street. The site previously had a freestanding pole sign located along Neltnor Boulevard between the
entrances within a landscape bed. The sign was legal nonconforming with respect to the height of
the sign, which was seventeen (17) feet tall in lieu of the maximum twelve (12) feet permitted, and
the setback distance, which was located up to the lot line in lieu of the minimum five (5) foot
setback required.
The petitioner is proposing to install a new sign cabinet on the existing pole structure. The pole
structure will not be altered and thus be located in the same location as before. The cabinet will be
the same size as before, eleven (11) feet in length and six (6) in width. This will result in the sign
having the same previous height of seventeen (17) feet.
Section 12.11 of the Zoning Code, which regulates legal nonconforming signs, prevents legal
nonconforming signs from being reconstructed after incurring damage in amount exceeding fifty
(50) percent of its market value. As a result, the petitioner is not able to rebuild the sign to its
previous condition without approval of a variance.
The petitioner is not proposing to alter the existing support structure and therefore the new sign will
stay in the same location as the sign was before for the last several years. The sign will be restored
to its original height and surface area as before. The location of the sign at the property line and the
increase height of the sign allow for more visibility of the southbound lanes of traffic on Route 59.

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If the height were reduced, it could potentially block these views. Furthermore, if the sign were
located five (5) feet further west from the property line, this could also impact the visibility of
traffic. the sign were relocated to the small landscape bed at the southeast corner of the property, it
would interfere with the visibility triangle that is required to remain open and clear of structures.
Staff recommends approval of the requests with the conditions outlined in the staff report.
Michael Hughes of Graham C-Stores was sworn in. Mr. Hughes stated the sign cabinet they are
installing will match the previous sign cabinet.
With no comments from the public or further discussion, Commissioner Devitt made a motion,
seconded by Commissioner Dettman to recommend approval of the Zoning Variance. With a roll
call vote of all present voting aye, the motion carried.
Mr. Sterrett stated that the petition will be discussed at the August 10" Development Committee
meeting.
Commissioner Hale made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Devitt, to close the public hearing.
With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried.
6. Review of Case PC 20-10, Zoning Variance
Commissioner Dettman made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Devitt, to open the public
hearing. With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried.
Mr. Sterrett stated that Ben Tran at 943 McCormick Drive located in the R-2 Single-Family
Residential District is seeking approval of a zoning variance to allow a sunroom addition to
encroach into the 30 foot rear yard setback by six feet.
The subject property is a corner lot located in the Prince Crossing Farm subdivision at the northwest
corner of McCormick Lane and Farm Drive. The lot is an irregular shape consisting of
approximately 13,000 square feet and contains a single-family home approximately 2,500 square
feet. Although the lot is located on a corner, it does not have the typical features of a corner lot,
including a narrow dimensioned front lot line and a longer corner side lot line. Rather, the lot has a
convex front lot line extending from one side property line to the other, consisting of 161 linear feet.
The petitioner is proposing to construct a 441 square foot sunroom addition on the rear of the house.
The corner of the addition will encroach into the required thirty (30) foot rear yard setback by six
(6) feet.
The lot, as previously mentioned, is an irregularly shaped lot resembling a pie shape. Staff surveyed
the other lots in this development to determine how much space exists between the rear of houses
and their rear property line. The distances range from sixty (60) to seventy (70) feet. These other
lots, which are rectangular, contain houses that are substantially the same size as the subject house.
The lots themselves are actually smaller than the subject lot (approximately 12,000 square feet in
size) yet they still have adequate space for additions on the rear because of their rectangular shape.
If this same sunroom addition were located on the rear of a house in this development having a
typical rectangular lot, even with less lot area, it would be able to maintain a distance of 40-50 feet
from the rear property line, well beyond the required setback.
Staff recommends approval of the requests with the conditions outlined in the staff report.

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Ben Tran was sworn in but had no comments.
With no comments from the public or further discussion, Commissioner Dettman made a motion,
seconded by Commissioner Henkin to recommend approval of the Zoning Variance. With a roll call
vote of all present voting aye, the motion carried.
Mr. Sterrett stated that the petition will be discussed at the August 10" Development Committee
meeting.
Commissioner Devitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Henkin, to close the public
hearing. With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried.
7. Other Commission Business
None.
8. Previous Petitions and General Development Update
Mr. Sterrett stated that there will be a meeting on August 3, 2020.
9. Adjournment
Commissioner Devitt made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Hale, to adjourn the meeting.
With a roll call vote of all those present voting aye, the motion carried. The Plan Commission, at
7:28 p.m., was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted by: John Sterrett, City Planner