Good evening.

I would like to call the planning and zoning commission meeting for March 4th, 2026 to order.

Secretary Wright, please conduct roll call.

Casting Rolling?

Here.

Langamba?

Here.

McDaniel?

Here.

Namas?

Here.

Rachelia?

Present.

Robins?

Here.

Wright is here.

Student Rev Razarama.

Here.

And student Rep Raman.

Here.

I'm sure we have a quorum.

Great.

Thank you.

The first order of business tonight is the public forum.

During the public forum, members of the public have the opportunity to address the planning and zoning commission on issues in which are not part of tonight's agenda.

Please keep your comments limited to three minutes.

Also, for the sake of all those in attendance, please refrain from clapping or shouting out in response to comments made by any speaker.

Secretary Wright, do we have anyone signed up under public forum?

First speaker is Matt Marsh.

Yes, I've got it to three minutes.

Good evening.

Good evening.

My name is Matt Marsh.

I am an owner of a townhouse in the 60-unit 25-year-old vintage club neighborhood, located less than 60 seconds drive from the proposed Atlas apartments development.

I'm here tonight to object to the rezoning of this property for such a high density development as the Atlas on Audrey Avenue.

My primary concern relates to pedestrian and child safety due to the increased vehicle traffic that would be in our residential neighborhood as a result.

That study focused primarily on Audrey Avenue and a few other major roadways connected to it.

It did not study or pay any attention to the impact on nearby residential side streets.

Within 550 feet of one of the proposed atlas entrances is the beginning of a residential street called Blakely Blakely Lane.

Lakeley Lane then leads to other 25 mile per hour residential side streets that pass through vintage club, Mayfair, and dozens of other single family homes.

People that know this area know that by using our side streets, you can avoid backups at nearby major intersections.

They use these shortcuts through our neighborhood side streets to move between major roadways such as Ogden, Route 59, and 75th Street.

As it is, we have a lot of non-resident traffic passing through our side streets to save time, many driving too fast.

During the warmer weather, these faster moving cars share our streets with kids on bikes and scooters, as well as pedestrians crossing from one side to the next.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good afternoon.

My name is Ralph Taylor.

I live at 27W174 Bower Road, unincorporated where I've lived for over 50 years.

I am addressing my remarks to the annexation of the property at 27W240 and 280 Bower Road.

I object to the annexation of this property into the village.

And I also object to the transitional unit.

Excuse me, sir.

The reason that I object to the annexation is that all it just doesn't fit in.

Sir, can I I I need to interrupt you?

Um this case is actually on under public hearings tonight on the agenda.

We're actually we're under public forum, but we will get to this case next, and then you can provide your testimony on the case.

I'm sorry, I'm hard a hearing.

Oh, of course.

Um I'm gonna say this into the microphone for the record.

Um, so you're providing testimony on the case that is on the agenda tonight under public hearings.

Yeah.

And so your testimony needs to happen when that public hearing has started.

Right now, we're only on public forum, which is for items that are not on the agenda tonight.

So you if you could please come back up, that would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Secretary Wright, do we have anyone else?

No one else on.

I agree.

Our next order of business in public hearings for each hearing, we will begin with staff presentation or introduction followed by the petitioner's presentation.

We'll then take public testimony to ensure that we have an opportunity to hear from each person wishing to speak.

Please keep your comments specific to the request under the consideration and try to avoid repetitive comments.

Also, for the sake of all those in attendance, please refrain from clapping or shouting out in response to comments made by any speaker.

Following all public testimony, the petitioner will provide closing remarks just prior to the closure of the public hearing.

No further public testimony will be taken after the petitioner begins their closing remarks or during the planning and zoning commission's deliberation.

I will now swear in any member of the public wishing to speak.

Those who wish to provide testimony, please stand up.

Please raise your right hand and respond.

I do.

I swear to tell the truth, but nothing but the truth.

All right, thank you.

Not yet.

When once we go through the petitioner's case.

All right.

The first case on tonight's agenda is DEB-0162-2025.

The public hearing is now open.

Anna Franca from staff will present the case.

Thank you, Chair.

Anna Franco with the city's planning services team.

The petitioner for DEV-0162-2025 requests approval of annexation into the city of Naperville, rezoning to the city's TU transitional use district upon annexation, approval of a preliminary final plan of subdivision to subdivide the property into three lots and a variance to the rear yard coverage requirement to develop the property with three duplex buildings for a total of six units.

The property is located near the northwest corner of Mill Street and Bower Road and located located directly east of the recently constructed parkplace row homes and is on is about a half acre in size.

The property is currently located in unincorporated DuPage County and is improved with a single family home.

The proposed duplexes are intended to be an expansion of the park place row home development, and similar to this development will face Bower Road with rear-loaded garages that are accessed via a private roadway located behind the buildings with vehicular access to both Bower Road and Mill Street.

A total of 15 parking spaces are provided for this development with two parking spaces per unit located in the attached garages and an additional three guest parking spaces located behind the buildings.

Upon annexation into the city, the petitioner is requesting rezoning to the TU district.

Staff finds the TU zoning to be appropriate given the variety of land uses and transitional nature of this area, as well as consistency with the TU zoning of the park place row homes and is supportive of the rezoning to TU.

The petitioner's responses to the standards for granting a map amendment can be found in the attachments.

Upon review, staff agrees with the petitioner's findings and recommends their adoption by the planning and zoning commission.

The petitioner also requests a variance to exceed the permissible maximum rear yard lot coverage of 25% and allow approximately 45% of the rear yard to be occupied by the rear roadway and guest parking spaces.

Staff is supportive of the requested variants due to roadway alignment with the park place row homes.

And since the rear road encroachment consists only of uncovered impervious space.

The petitioners' responses to the standards for granting a zoning variants can be found in the attachments.

Upon review, staff agrees with the petitioner's findings and recommends their adoption by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Please note that the annexation and plan of subdivision requests are not subject to PCC review.

These requests will be heard by the city council at a subsequent meeting date.

Tonight we ask that you conduct the public hearing and we are available for questions.

Thank you.

Well, the petitioner please approach the podium.

Good evening.

My name is Eric Prectal.

I'm with Rosanova and Whitaker, 445 Jackson Avenue Suite 200 in Naperville.

I'm here this evening on behalf of the petitioner, Hawkeye Property Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Red Start Construction.

Here with me this evening are a number of our consultants, including representatives from Red Start as well as our civil engineer, our architect, and our and our traffic consultant.

First of all, as always, thank you, Anna, for that excellent overview.

All for any questions you may have.

So by way of background on the petitioner, Red Start Construction, Red Start is a local neighbor Naperville builder and remodeler located right down the street on Washington Street.

Um has over 20 years of experience designing and building custom homes, remodels, and renovations.

Having successfully transformed homes for hundreds of families in the city, Red Start has earned its A plus rating from the Better Business Bureau and is consistently recognized with industry awards.

Moving on to the subject property, it consists of approximately half an acre located at the northeast corner of Bower Road and Mill Street.

You see Nike Park to the north, unincorporated single-family homes to the east in DuPage County, Main Farm to the south, and then the previously approved parkplace townhomes immediately to the west, with the Crest Creek Townhomes and the Truth Lutheran Church to the west across Mill Street.

As the owner of the property, petitioner is seeking to annex the property to Naperville, resubdivide the property and zone the property and the transitional use or TU district for the purpose of constructing three duplex buildings for a total of six units on the site.

So as I just mentioned, petitioner previous previously received approvals for the parkplace row home community immediately to the west, which development is nearing its completion if you've been down Bower Road or Mill recently.

You've probably noticed that this their signs up now that they are looking for tenants.

The proposed duplexes are intended to be a logical transition and extension of this townhome development and will provide a natural transition between the row homes to the duplexes and then the single family homes to the east.

Moving on to the current zoning for the property.

It is zoned R3 and unincorporated DuPage County.

Like the row homes upon annexation, we are requesting a rezoning to the transitional use district.

The requested TU zoning district and proposed duplexes are consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and its future land use map that you see here, which is which is shown and designates the subject property and all the areas in blue as city corridor.

Notably, the city corridor designation lists supporting uses as including attached single family homes, which would certainly include duplexes.

Likewise, the comprehensive plan also includes the TU district as being an applicable zoning district for the location.

So that brings me to our site plan.

As you see here, we are proposing three lots, each with each with a duplex building for a total of six duplex units.

All homes will be rearloaded and accessible via the same drive aisle as the row homes to the west, which provides a full access off a single full access off of Bower and then a write-out only on two mill.

In addition to each home having a two-car garage, as Anna mentioned, there are three guest stalls at the rear of the building to be in compliance with city code.

That is solely due to the fact that the drive aisle is located in the rear, which as I mentioned was the intent of having the cross access across the row homes to the west.

This site layout helps helps with that with use of utilizing the current curb cut along Bower for the row homes.

Turning to the homes themselves, they are anticipated to be three-bedroom, two and a half bath with two car garages, square footage is ranging from 2100 to 2500 square feet.

This excludes the basement.

If you add the basement in there, you are looking at more like 3,000 square feet.

Um is an excellent excellent amenity that we think will provide future residents with a great opportunity to relax outside in the warmer months.

Here are just a few more photos of the proposed elevations.

The homes will be constructed of high quality materials, including hardy boards, stone accent, accents, and asphalt shingles.

Um have been designed to complement the adjacent townhomes or row homes to form an attractive streetscape as you move down Bower.

Lastly, I would just like to provide you with a few representational um photos of the high quality interiors that Red Star designs and constructs.

Uh these are actually the staged units in the row homes next door as they exist today.

Um we certainly think this could be indicative of what you might see in the proposed proposed duplexes.

So again, thank you.

Um we'd be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

I would now like to hear from any of the members public present tonight who would like to speak on this case, Secretary Wright.

Mr.

Taylor, you're now up.

Thank you.

As I said before, I live at 27W174 Bower Road where I've lived for over 50 years.

I object to the annexation of this property in the village, simply because all of the other homes on the north side of Bower Road are all single family homes.

I also object to this uh transitional unit.

I think I know what it means, but would you please explain that to everybody?

What does that transitional unit mean?

I'll have staff.

Yep.

So the transitional use is a zoning district within the city.

Just a move.

Yes, of course.

And I want to speak into the microphone while I'm talking to you as well for the record.

So a transitional the transitional use is the zoning district that we're proposing, or sorry, the developers proposing to rezone to.

Um it provides um a diverse mix of it.

It's intended to provide a transition when there is um a diverse mix of uses around the property.

And so in that district, single family attached is permitted, which are town homes, duplexes are permitted as well.

And so duplexes are a permitted use in that zone.

For transitional use, it means you can build one thing and then tear it down and build something else, correct?

I would say that could be true of um many zoning districts in the city.

Well, I still don't understand.

But I object to the rezoning in the village because it simply doesn't fit in with the rest of all the single family homes that are on the north side of Bower Road, unincorporated.

And with that, I will end my remarks.

Other than I still do not understand what this transitional use district is, regardless of what you said.

I still don't understand that.

So the transitional use district is a zoning district within the city.

We have you know the R1A single family low density district, we have R4, we have B3, B2 for business districts.

So there's a variety of zoning districts that we have in the city of Naperville.

And in this case, TU is the zoning district that the petitioner is proposing to rezone to upon annexation into the city.

But what does the transitional unit mean?

Um so per the intent of the transitional use district, um, it's intended to be developed with low intensity office service and residential uses.

I can't read it anyway.

Yeah, we can provide this information afterwards if that's helpful.

Um also if you could if you have questions, other questions, you can post them to the commission as well.

Well, with that, I will end my remarks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Are there any other members of the public that would like to speak on this case?

No one signed up.

All right, let's hear from the commissioners.

I will start with Commissioner.

You don't have any questions.

I just want to say I I like it.

I like the use.

It fits well with what is west of there.

So nice job.

Actually, I like those balconies overlooking up Nike Park.

I mean, that'd be great for the you know, people sitting out there just watching um, you know, people play sports.

So I think I think it's a great idea.

I like it.

Uh one quick question, and this is a a serious question.

Um, the development itself uh entrance, does it have a zero you know entry?

Can you walk in?

Can someone roll a wheelchair in?

Uh or is there a step up to get into the entrance?

Oh, you don't mind it very important.

So the interiors aren't built to spec, so they are going to be tailored towards the individual home buyer.

Um so as they exist today, I can't sit up here and say that it does have a zero-step entry.

However, if the potential owner wants a ramp, wants an elevator, wants certain accessibility options, that's certainly something that we can work with them to add since these are fairly customizable as the as far as the interiors go.

Thank you.

Um next part of my comment is uh I'm not an architect, I'm not a designer, I don't necessarily always know what looks good.

I know what I think looks good.

My wife has to help me kind of get dressed every day.

Um but uh quite frankly, um the developments that are there now, I think are somewhat unappealing.

Um I don't think it is what we initially saw or what we initially approved.

Um and I heard you mention the word anticipated as as this is what's anticipated to be built.

Love the pictures.

I hope that's what gets developed.

Uh, but I really would not like to see something else other than what's being proposed or pictured here.

Um so I'm gonna be supportive of the development, but I really would like for city council to take a really hard look at this and ensure that what's being presented is actually ends up what's being built.

Sure, absolutely, and that's fair.

Um so when I when I said um what we're anticipating, that was more in reference to the interiors, but because as I was just talking about, they're highly customizable.

So if someone wants a master down, we can put a master down in.

Um the how the the inside ends up being configures, configured can change how the outside is, not by the the actual box, the structure itself, but for example, where a window might go.

Um so there could be small differences such as that that would occur, but I think largely what we put up there, we certainly think is what you will end up seeing being built.

Um that said, I do have the architect here.

He was not the architect on the last row home development.

So if there's more pointed questions, I would probably defer because much like you, I'm not uh not the professional when it comes to architecture.

Thank you.

Sure.

Thank you.

Uh Commissioner Longenba.

Thank you.

Um and way to go.

The term is visitability.

And it looks like I am training you all very well.

So well done.

Thank you.

Um I had the same comment.

Um, you know, the existing park place townhomes.

Um, there is a major difference between what was presented to PZC and to City Council back in 2023.

The stonework along that was a like a tan sand color, which is completely different than the black, white, and gray stone that is there now.

So I would like to have some kind of insurance that what is to be built, and I'm talking the outside, um, will like what you're showing will represent what the final product should be and not be a serious um deviation from what you're showing us here.

Sure, and I think we can work on providing some sort of assurance.

I don't know if that what exactly that looks like if we wanted to put something.

I mean, we always use the term substantial conformance in the zoning world, so I don't know if we work that into the um the annexation agreement with reference to the elevations or something to that effect, but we're definitely happy to work with the city to that that end.

Um thank you.

And then my second question is on traffic.

So reading through the the traffic conditions, um the new memo says that there is only Nike Park to the north.

Um, but there is a new development, a very large new development at deal and mill going in right now to the north.

And so I'm wondering why that wasn't considered in the traffic study.

Um, and then just a just kind of a random comment um reading through that.

I was kind of a little disappointed to see the word bower misspelled throughout the the memo from 2022.

And so just given that that was kind of a lack of attention to detail on that.

Are you comfortable with this traffic study being comprehensive and having accurate traffic conclusions?

I have all the faith in the world for our traffic consultant, but I will let him uh speak to those questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh good evening.

My name is Steve Corcoran, director of traffic engineering at Erickson Engineering Associates and prepared the study and both the for the townhomes as well as for this development tonight.

And I'll I have to see apologize for the misspelling of the word bower in the previous report.

Um so, and then in terms of the new development, we were basically analyzing the impact of this development on traffic conditions, and three cars, six duplexes would generate about three cars during the peak hours.

So the impact on mill or bower by those tracks or cars are basically de minimis.

I mean, you and I go out there tomorrow, and the day after there's three more cars, three less cars.

We couldn't tell the difference just by normal traffic operation.

So whatever happens to the north, yes, we'll increase traffic uh along principally mill.

Uh but that the their impact is what they have to address, but also from our previous study, there was plenty of capacity at the intersection to accommodate more traffic, whether it's from this development or any other development in the area.

Okay, so when you say that it can accommodate more traffic, is that taking into consideration the southbound traffic from deal and mill because that is going to be a significant amount of of traffic potentially turning east onto Bauer.

And I I agree, I think the you know what is going to be added to the traffic from these three duplexes is probably not all that much, but I am worried that that intersection gets quite a lot of traffic, and now there's going to be more traffic coming from the north.

The fact that the memo didn't take that into consideration at all as far as future traffic conditions, just gives me some pause because that's that should be in there and addressed.

Understood.

I mean, the the original study did include traffic growth, so we did account for more traffic in the future, and the intersection itself was working at a level of service B or C, which you know is pretty good for especially for Naperville.

Well, anywhere, but Naperville too, uh, the busier sections of Naperville.

So there is capacity to handle more traffic.

Correct.

We didn't assess the uh specifics of any other development.

Um, and you're obviously your staff reviewed that and didn't bring that up with us either, as far as that particular issue.

So okay, thank you.

I mean, overall, I think I like the look of these.

Um, I do hope that given the long sidewalk going up that you could incorporate visitability in them.

I think that would be great.

Um, but overall, I think I I like the look of them.

I think that is an appropriate place for them.

So thank you.

Commissioner Reddit.

Thank you.

Eric, did you have something that you want to add to that?

That was it.

Okay.

Um, so both of my questions were really asked, but I just I guess I kind of want to reiterate a couple of things, and I agree with the commissioners and what they've said here.

Um for me, the TU transition is really important.

Um, or excuse me, the design of the property that you're proposing.

Um, that design is really important for me.

Um, as they said, you know, with the park place um uh property looks a lot different than what we thought.

So um, you know, for me it works because of the way that it was designed, it looks like a great product between the townhomes and between single family homes.

This looks like a really, really great design that will complement that.

So I'm I'm hoping that that you take that into consideration and keep the design uh very consistent uh this time.

Um the second piece was also on the traffic study, which I think phase one was actually completed in 2021.

Um this is a very low impact, so I'm not making a big deal out of this, and really I guess my question is more to staff is at what point do we ask the petitioners to consider uh traffic from developments that have been approved but not yet built.

Um, for example, the the additional apartments and school that's going on uh a little further down mill, uh, because this could happen in other areas of the city where uh petitioner may not be aware that there are other uh things being built, and they should consider that in the traffic.

Again, not making this one a big deal because it's six cars, it's not gonna make a big point, but just love to understand how that process works.

Sure.

Uh Katie Rubus with engineering.

Um, as far as how we would determine the impact of additional developments on one development, would be somewhat on a case by case basis.

Um so this particular development we did um, knowing that the impact was going to be so small, we did not ask them to do a full analysis of considering um additional developments.

If it was a larger development, it would have been much more relevant.

Um for with it for this particular case, we thought with uh six units that it was not required for them to do um further analysis of that.

And and I agree with that.

I think that that's right.

Mr.

Taylor, do you have Mr.

Taylor?

Mr.

Taylor, do you have do you have a quick second?

I wanted to I wanted to address your concerns really quick, and I wanted to make sure.

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me okay?

Thank you.

I I just want to make sure that you understand on your uh question about annexation that we we don't vote on that, that that's going to be handled at city council.

So make sure that when this case comes aboard uh before city council that you go and speak at city council about your concerns.

Is that you understand that?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you for being here.

And that's all I have, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

All right, I'm not gonna hammer too much more on the park place, but I do want to make the comment that in all the years that I've been on this commission and all of the controversial cases that we've had, I will say that uh the outside facade I have never gotten so much feedback on and how much dislike.

So I just want to comment on that because I was pleasantly surprised when I saw these renderings.

I think all of us had commented on that.

But I just want I have to say that to you because I I have heard so much about it.

People who who are not designers who are not, but they drive past it and say, you know, why did you approve that?

Um and I do feel like it does look slightly different than what we did approve and what council saw.

So that's my comment on that, and we can stop talking about park place.

But um I do have a question on traffic though uh for staff.

So and Commissioner Wright started down this process, but in the last few months, if I look at Mill Street from Jackson down to Deal, we've approved some pretty significant developments along Mill Street, and we have a couple pending.

So with that said, if those were to go through, there will be five large developments, and I know we look at things case by case, but at what point does city staff or engineering look and say, okay, this is outside of what we saw in the master plan.

This is you know, we've got schools that feed off of those streets, all of those things, and I don't think all of the petitioners are looking at that when they're putting in their uh details for their case.

Um I I guess one thing that I would for I guess reiterate the the size of the development does matter.

Um so any information that we have regarding other developments, we would definitely provide that to petitioners and ask them to include that information in their studies.

Um at least in terms of Mills Street, Mill Street is actually a DuPage County roadway, and so they have oversight over any additional improvements required to that roadway in the vicinity of this project.

Okay, so that that's gonna um open Pandora's box for me.

So from Jackson even to Ogden, like through downtown, that is DuPage, that's not City of Naperville.

If I had to guess, my guess would be that that is not true.

Um, but I do not know where uh DuPage County Department of Transportation jurisdiction starts and ends along Mill Street.

I just know that within the vicinity of this project is DuPage County.

I would really like some clarification on that, just because um if anyone drives down Mill, especially during business hour, you know, high traffic times, it's already chaotic.

So when I look at the developments that we've approved and that are coming, um that's concerning because there's a part of this road we have no control over, and yet we're approving certain developments.

Does that make sense?

Yes, and I under I understand your concern, but we do work relatively closely with DuPage County on these developments and what improvements um they need to see related to our developments.

So I'm would think that these things are being taken into account in by the county when they're approving these developments, and if additional roadway improvements are required.

Do you know how often DuPage County does traffic studies?

Independent of uh developments, I do not.

All right.

Um I would like to see whether it's for the next meeting or sometime in the future, even if it's just a memo back to us to understand more of the traffic studies and what justifies them and when there's a county road involved, when do they participate in these studies and in these cases?

Um otherwise, as far as your uh case tonight, I think they look great.

I think they're perfect transition, and I am in favor.

Um so at that point, does oh, yes.

I did want to address one of the yeah, sure.

I want to be completely transparent on everything.

So thank you all very much for uh all the positive.

Sorry, I'm Steve Meyer, Meyer Design.

Um the the architectural styling and everything that we put together, we love everything we're doing.

We plan on that's what we're doing.

We're not looking to change uh to something more bland or anything like that.

However, currently we have it proposed very uh white uh a light tan, and we do want to keep earth tones on this to be very subtle and not outrageous and bold, but we do want to add a little more color, and I don't want you know we come back with something to city council and it's got you know some nice sage or something in there, and you're freaking out.

So we will get that to city council and you all for that grace uh when we when we have that put together fully.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

All right, uh Commissioner Namas.

Yeah, um, so to go back to DuPage County has jurisdiction over that piece.

When it comes time for a development, any of these developments that are in DuPage County, they'll still go to the county for permitting as well.

Is that correct?

To clarify your question, are you asking um you say if these projects are in the county, meaning not in incorporated Naperville?

I guess what I I guess I'm taking into account what everyone is saying about the fact that we don't have I guess jurisdiction over certain pieces of the road, right?

So how do we kind of marry those two things together with what we're approving here as like these developments and the traffic that impacts that street that we don't have jurisdiction on?

So I'm wondering they'll get a permit from the city of Naperville, correct, for say this development.

Will they also need a permit from the county?

Yes.

Okay, so we require um any development along a roadway that is a county roadway before they get final approval of their engineering plans, they also need final approval from the county, and the county may have their own independent requirements for what needs to be done related to the development.

Great.

That's just what I wanted to clarify because I think that also again kind of mitigates some of the risk that we might see as well.

So thank you.

Not that I want to disagree with you, but I think it might I might disagree.

Um, because I'm not sure.

I mean, they're not as focused as we are.

Is the sure, sure.

I I agree with you that we still I would still like to see the same studies.

I'm I think I'm just for the sake of everyone here.

Their general knowledge as we've started looking at who has jurisdiction over what those overlaps are.

I just I think um we get so many speakers and residents speaking to us about traffic, and I feel like there is a disconnect across the board.

So it's why I bring it up.

Um especially when I look at MIL, and all of a sudden we've got five developments from Jackson to Deal.

I mean, that's a huge change.

Yeah, and I think again, that might be something that we should look at closer of who has jurisdiction where at these developments go up.

I I agree.

I just again for general knowledge, wanted to make sure how we're overlapping with the county or with another jurisdiction.

I'm just thank you.

All right.

Uh, would the petitioner like to make any closing remarks?

Okay.

I will entertain a motion to close the public hearings for DEV-0162-2025.

So all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion carries.

Commissioner Namez, please read the motion.

I would like to make a motion to adopt the findings of fact as presented by the petitioner and recommend approval of DEV-0162-02 or 2025, a rezoning to the TU transitional use district upon annexation in to the city of Naperville, and a variance from section six six-2-105 of the municipal code to permit uh maximum rear yard coverage of 45% in lieu of 25% for the property located at 27 West 240 and 27 West 280 Bower Road for the Bower Road Duplexes.

Can I have a second?

Second.

All right.

Secretary Wright, please conduct roll call.

Casting Lowing.

I approve.

Long and ball.

Agree with the motion.

McDaniel.

I agree.

Namas.

Agree.

Richelia.

I agree with the motion.

Robins.

I agree.

And Wright agrees.

Motion passes.

Great.

Congratulations.

All right.

The next on the agenda is the consideration of an appeal to the portions of the citywide building design guidelines that rate restrict accent colors and materials to 25% of the facade at the key locations in block 59 and Westridge Court.

Sarah Kapinski from staff will provide a pre a brief presentation.

Thank you and good evening.

Sarah Kapinski with the city's planning services team.

The petitioner for the item before you requests an appeal to portions of the citywide building design guidelines that restrict accent colors and materials to 25% of the facade at key locations in block 59 and Westridge Court.

The property owner proposes two murals that cover nearly 100% of the facades they're proposed on.

These murals were not included in the original PUD approvals for block 59.

The murals will contribute to placemaking efforts within block 59 and Westridge Court, fostering a sense of vibrancy in the area.

They will be painted directly on the brick facades.

One mural is planned on the south facade of the five below building.

It will be about approximately 1,800 square feet in size and oriented towards a parking area internal to the site.

The mural will feature a colorful abstract image with different graphics.

The second mural proposed is on the rear or east facade of the multi-tenant building where Velvet Taco Kava and Crispin Green are located.

The mural is approximately 2500 square feet in size and is also oriented towards a parking area that's internal to the site.

This mural will feature a colorful floral pattern.

In accordance with the citywide building design guidelines, staff cannot administratively approve a mural that was not addressed during block 59 PUD entitlements, or that covers more than 25% of the building facade.

Upon reviewing the proposal, staff agrees with the petitioner that the murals will contribute to the character of block 59 and Westridge Court.

Staff does not have concern with the murals as proposed, as they are oriented internal to the site and are not intended to be viewed from the adjacent public rights of way.

Staff finds the request provides a creative place making element for the development.

Tonight we ask the PCC to consider and provide direction on the applicant's appeal request.

We will remain available for any questions.

Great.

Thank you.

Will the petitioner please approach the podium?

Good evening.

Excuse me.

Good evening.

I'm Rich DePolito with Ricksmore Property Group.

We're the owners and developers of Block 59.

My address is 8600 West Bryn Avenue.

How do I get from this page?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Again, good evening, commissioners and student representatives.

I think it's fantastic that you have student representatives here.

What a great education and great way to learn politics and zoning.

So it's awesome to see you guys here.

As I mentioned, we're the owners and developers of block 59.

And when we first started thinking about this project, we really wanted to create a sense of place and create an area for an additional area for members of Naperville to go and to gather.

So we thought about a lot of things.

We really put a lot of emphasis on design.

How do the buildings look, how do they look together?

And really took a look at landscaping and thought a little bit about murals, but at the time we weren't far enough into the project to really understand what the architecture of the buildings was going to be and how the uh where the best locations for the murals would be and uh what exactly they would look like.

So as we've gotten further along, we're now 80% complete with the buildings.

We have two more that are going to be coming online here pretty soon this year, hopefully.

And we're ready to move forward with our murals.

All right, this is not cooperating.

What am I doing wrong here?

That was weird.

I think that's uh bought up all of a sudden.

Sorry.

There we go.

That should work now.

That's odd.

So our request is an appeal to the uh building uh design guidelines that limits the amount of mural square footage to 25% of the building, and I think as I get into this, you'll understand the direction that we're really looking to take this.

And again, really just focusing on placemaking, providing uh just good spaces for the community.

We felt that these two locations in particular were very appropriate to uh to achieve that goal.

Uh they also they're as Sarah mentioned, they are oriented internal to the site, so you don't see them from the roadways, uh, but they will be visible as you're uh once you enter into the project itself.

And then on the buildings, we've we really feel we've done a good job working with our tenants to control the amount of signage that they have.

I think they've really gone above and beyond in many cases to do some signage that's really attractive, um, and there's not too much on it.

So we don't feel like you know, the addition the addition of murals uh would be a negative.

In fact, we think it's very much a positive for the development as a whole.

So this is block 59.

The area in the darker gray is pretty much the area that uh we have impacted either putting in parking lots uh or buildings.

We also own the adjacent West Ridge Court, which heads off to the east as well as up to the north.

And as we develop this project, we realized that the mural number one at the top of the site is actually on the side of the five below building, which is part of West Ridge Court.

So even though it is technically not part of block 59, it's very visible.

So as you come in, in particular off of Route 59, and uh you get you drive past Shake Shack and Stans Donuts, you look to the left, there's a very large blank wall.

And with the former development, you really didn't notice it because there were buildings that were blocking that, but it has become uh it's it's just a large blank wall with nothing on it.

It is brick, so it's not unattractive, uh, but it's kind of plain.

So we thought that would be a great place to make a nice statement piece and to add some vitality to the overall project.

Uh the mural number two, that location was actually a location we had considered doing a mural.

Um, and we had during our the PUD process had uh shown a mural on the back side of that building, which is one of the reasons why it's has a lot of um just brick there, and there's not uh a lot of texture in terms of architecture.

I think the brick is really pretty, it's a really bright white, it's really a nice brick.

Uh but as we started looking at it, we realized if we just do a framed mural or something like that, it just didn't feel right.

So as we got into it, we thought we started looking around at murals that really had high impact and really seemed to add a lot of energy to various projects, and we're and we went ahead and looked at a design that encompassed much more of the building in that case.

Uh so here is this is an aerial view, which helps give you a little lift off the site to be able to see the direction.

So at the top of the page, you'll see it's kind of hard to see since it's uh a little far off, but I wanted to give you a context for the overall project here.

There's the five below sign, and that all of that red big brick to the right is where we wanted to put the short first mural.

And this is a look at it transposed onto the building itself.

The building is relatively flat to a point and then it turns, has a little bit of an angle on the right hand side.

Uh this is by a local artist.

In fact, both both of our uh murals are by local uh Chicagoland artists.

And uh what Alyssa did here is she actually drove into Naperville and drove around and she just took note of things that caught her eye and started incorporating those things into the mural.

And that's what makes this mural really fun is that there's a lot of a lot of texture to it, and her style, she does a lot of murals in this particular style where it's very abstract, but as you start digging into it, you can really start to see things.

So, one of the things she wanted to incorporate is the river walk.

So she did that with green, although the river walk isn't green.

We kind of gave her some latitude there.

But that green stripe kind of runs through the whole mural.

Um she also saw a lot of flowers, so she put in the black-eyed Susan, the river is in there.

Um not sure what the slice of cake is, honestly, but uh you know, who doesn't like cake?

There's the Moser Tower, there's a nod to that to uh the covered bridge along the river walk, which I think is great.

She saw a lot of birds, so included the cardinal there.

Then as you kind of get to the right in the overall design, we she starts to add in things that are a nod to block 59 itself.

So musical notes, uh the piano on there for the live music.

We're gonna have shopping bags, um, a nod to the architecture that we have.

You see a continuation of the path.

There's a donut and a dog for our our one of our first tenants, lazy dog that was on site, uh a beer for a yard house, uh, pizza, and then the path continues on, and she included some houses because Naperville is a very family-friendly town, and we wanted to have something that addresses the fact that you know homes are important, families are important, and we wanted that to be part of the mural.

Then, of course, the string lights that you see they were over the ice rink, and now they'll be over the village green.

So that is the first mural.

The second mural is on the back side of the building that houses Velvet Taco and Kava.

As I mentioned previously, we had planned on putting a mural on this building.

In the foreground there, you see a lot of grass that is going to become a building later on this year.

Um, so this side of the building really is internal to the site.

You do see it quite a bit as you're coming in the various driveways, uh, but only once you get inside the property.

We have another artist uh who designed something for this building, also from in the Chicagoland area.

And what we said to her is we don't want we didn't want the same kind of mural that just kind of covers the whole face.

We want something that feels organic and starting to come up out of the ground.

So she took us literally and made it very organic.

Um you see the leaves and interestingly, this kind of yellow thread runs through her uh mural, similar to how the river walk runs through the other one.

And they didn't compare notes, but it just kind of worked out that way, which I thought was kind of interesting.

Um, and then the mural wraps the the building a little bit.

So this is a view as you're coming off the green, you'll have a building on the left, cheesecake will be on the right.

Um, as you're coming out, you'll see this uh along the side of the building, which um just feels really good.

And then uh on the top left side, you see how it it's even wraps that that corner just a little bit, just so you get a hint of what's going on around the other side.

So that is our request.

Um hopefully um that is something that feels good to you as well, and um would appreciate your support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, so at this time I will ask if there's any other members in the public that would like to speak on this case.

No one signed up.

All right, then we'll move to the commissioners.

Commissioner Long.

Thank you so much.

Um I love the color.

Um, I love that there are you know local or regional artists, and I really appreciate you talking us through the the elements.

It was fun to hear all of that.

Um personally, I I'd like to have the opportunity to approve more of these.

Like this is this is a great move in in my opinion.

Um frankly, I wish you could add more that are visible, not just to the inside of this.

And so I'm just kind of curious as to why there is a necessity to keep them internal to this and not more visible to the outside.

Is it is it safety?

Is it is what's the reason for that?

Because frankly, I think people going by if they see that it might entice them into block 59.

So I'm just kind of curious as to why we can't have more on the outside.

It's not that we can't.

Um we actually did consider on the on the back side of first watch.

There's kind of a panel on that building that could be something.

We did talk to First Watch about potentially doing something there that would face directly onto Route 59.

Uh, we just thought as a starting point, we really wanted to focus the murals internally, so when you're in the space, you you really get the feel of it, and that was really it.

Um we would like to do more.

We hadn't really pursued that at this point.

We figured let's let's take it one step at a time and we'll go from there.

But um glad to hear that you'd be amenable to that.

We'll absolutely keep that in mind.

Great, thank you.

I mean, I can't speak for everybody, but I know I would be amenable to it, and I think it's a great idea, so I am in support of this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Wright.

Yeah, just really a few questions.

Um and I agree with uh Commissioner Longenbaugh.

I mean, I I do like the murals.

Um I I guess one thing that I was confused about, and and you cleared this up tonight, is that this was more of a decision by the developer rather than the individual businesses themselves.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay.

So what I guess my first question would be is who is responsible for maintaining the murals?

We are as the owner.

You are yeah, okay.

And then what happens if you get a retailer that doesn't like the mural or it it it contradicts their messaging or their signage, would you guys then repaint it?

Or what what's the plan there?

Yeah, we did actually think about that when we did the design here.

Um for the one next to FiveLo.

Five below is a new tenant of ours, doesn't mean they'll be there forever.

Uh, but they are very excited about it.

So, in fact, we're gonna um we're gonna repaint their facade a little bit.

It's kind of that beige color.

Uh, we're gonna make it a little bit brighter.

So we're gonna actually enhance their facade a little bit to help it wrap into the into the mural a little bit.

But this is on the side of the building.

So whatever tenant goes in there wouldn't it wouldn't impact their signage areas.

We wouldn't want them to have more signage there than they have now.

So um that's not an issue.

And then on the back side of uh this building, we actually one of the reasons we kept the mural down lower is we intentionally kept it below that sign line.

Um we went through painstaking effort to get Kava and Crispin Green to line up their signs, and then they installed them wrong, which frustrates the daylights out of me.

Um but yeah, I think with the mural here, it helps clean that up a little bit.

But the the intent would be if there are two other signs on that building, they would be above that line.

So it'd never impact the mural.

So we did think about that.

Okay, great.

Um, and as a trustee at North Central College, we're gonna say that Cardinal is not a bird, it's the mascot.

That's what that's what we're gonna say there.

Fair enough.

Um and so yeah, I you know, I guess my only concern is, and I want to make sure that there's some internal controls that we have guarantee murals.

Look, they're beautiful, I love them, it's art, um, but they're maintenance, and if you don't take care of them, they they can look really bad really quick.

So if there's some sort of internal controls that have been put into place or an agreement that bricks more is going to make sure that these stay bright and vibrant, I'm I'm okay with it.

Um the other piece of that is if uh uh vendors want to brand these murals.

I'm assuming that is a no-go.

Like this is not gonna turn into signage, they're gonna stay murals.

No, they're oh, you mean like have a sponsor or something like that?

Well, they would incorporate their business name into the mural.

Uh no, that's that is not the intent with these either one of these.

Okay.

And then I'm assuming staff that if there's some significant change to the mural over time, that that would have to come back to us for approval.

Correct.

Then um, rather than considering these artistic installations, we would consider it signage, and um it would uh necessitate the need for assigned variance, so it would come back.

Gotcha.

Okay.

And sir, our last question I have is and I think you explained this, but I forgot what you said.

Why why are we not making this an amendment to the PUD versus an actual sign or a uh what are we doing?

We're we're doing uh change to the guidelines rather than incorporating it into the block 59 PUD.

Is there any reason why we would do that?

Uh the Block 59 PUD approvals didn't include any deviations to um our building design guidelines, all of their elevations and signage and things did comply.

So um really just as a matter of process, we thought this was most appropriate.

Um that we feel the appeal is supportable based on the locations that they're proposed, but I don't know that it is uh a blanket approval that we would want to provide for the whole development.

Okay, okay, and I understand what you're saying.

And I I guess I look at it as you know when we start talking about these murals and changing um guidelines.

To me, it kind of opens up Pandora's box.

It could, maybe it won't.

Um, but a change to the PUD seems like it would be a much simpler process because it would be very specific to block 59 and not the uh the the city at large.

Well, so I think what's a little bit different with this uh the municipal code does outline a specific process for appeals to the design guidelines, uh, which doesn't include city council approval.

They only come to planning and zoning commission.

Okay, thank you.

All right, Commissioner Namas.

Um, yes, is there a way to add like a maintenance schedule?

Or is that something you've considered?

Again, as we've talked about as time goes on, like a five, ten year maintenance schedule.

Um yeah, I I don't know what that would look like, but I you know our intent would be to keep them up.

So I guess we just have to figure out how that would be worded.

Sure.

And for the city's property maintenance codes, uh, they would have to maintain them, keep them free of any chipping paint, peeling, things like that.

Um, we would it's not something I don't believe that we would draft a separate agreement for, just expect continued compliance with that.

Thank you.

That answers there is one already, right?

Basically, perfect.

Thank you.

Commissioner Casnoli.

Uh my questions were answered.

It's uh it's a nice addition.

I think you look great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Commissioner Ruchellia.

All right, Commissioner McDowell.

Uh I think we've already established or I've established that I don't know what looks good, but I think this looks really good.

And I'm really excited for it.

Uh I I really do.

I I love it.

I'm excited.

I'd love to see more of it.

Um thank you for making the commute out here from Chicago.

Um my only comment is more general.

Would you mind going back to the very first slide that shows block 59?

Um we saw this, I don't know how many years ago, two years ago.

Uh super excited.

We are honestly very happy that you're here.

We're very excited with your partnership.

Uh honestly would love to have seen this you know, come to 100% fruition instead of half of what what it what it is now.

It's a great addition.

I would just as love to see it, you know, as originally proposed.

Clearly, nothing uh that you had to do with it.

I know those decisions were made beyond us, uh, but I would just like to point it out because it's a great piece, uh great addition in Aprilville.

We just love to see, you know, really uh uh what it could have been.

What specifically do you feel it's lacking?

Uh I think it was initially proposed to be double the size of what it is today, uh, all the way up towards Portillo's.

But again, that's completely out of our scope for this conversation.

Just a comment, a personal comment uh I I wanted to make.

And the decision to scale it back um happened, I know at the council level, not here.

Well, we scaled this was the proposal that we brought forward uh I guess it's four years ago.

Um there was an earlier version that was probably twice the size, three times the size of this that we were talking about, I think seven years ago prior to the pandemic.

Um, but this this is very much in keeping with what we brought to city council.

We're not done yet, we still have two more buildings to build.

But it's it's very close to what was brought forward.

Um well to know.

Uh again, it's meant to be more positive than anything else.

I love it, and I think it's a great condition.

Um not to be taken in a negative light, other than I just would love to see the entire corner block built out in this fashion.

So yeah, and the reason for my question was it I I want to address your concern.

So if there's something that you feel is lacking, that you know, definitely want to take a look at that.

I don't think I have, I mean, I think everyone's addressed all the questions and all the things.

I think it looks awesome.

I think it's vibrant, it's fun.

This is a family community uh location.

I think that just uh brings it all kind of together.

I would love to see more of them.

I do have a question on the life expectancy of the paint.

So on those murals, how long does that paint typically last?

Obviously, we live in extreme climate, so um I know we've had conversations about that.

I don't recall the time frame on it.

Um they do put a protective coating on it, so it helps helps it last.

Um it better last a long time because we're paying a lot for these.

That's what I you know.

I I'm assuming it does, right?

But I wasn't sure.

Is that a yearly touch up?

Is that a five-year touch up?

Is that a I I didn't know if you knew that as far as it's it's years, yeah, it's not it's not an annual thing, you know.

Unless you know somebody comes by and it gets nicked and that sort of thing, we'd have to touch it up.

But no, the intention is you know, it's it's there for a long time.

And that was one of the questions the staff had for me is you know, we were painting it on the brick, and we say, yeah, you know, we we look at this as an investment.

We're buying a piece of art, right?

Um, so we want it to be a permanent installation.

That's our goal.

I think they look great.

So thank you.

I really appreciate it.

Oh, yes.

Okay.

Hi.

Um, I think the murals look really beautiful, and I'm really happy about this.

I just had two quick questions.

The first one is kind of piggybacking off of um Commissioner Robbins.

Um about the paint itself.

Do you have any info on like the paint specifically about like its permeability?

Because a lot of times with these murals, it's actually like when the paint isn't permeable enough, it actually causes structural like detriment to the brick.

Do you have any info on like how that would be addressed?

I don't have specifics on that.

We do have to prime the red brick that's out there before they um before they paint it just because of the type of brick that is.

The new brick that we have on the white building, um, we don't have to prime, so that that one is in good shape.

Um I don't know, it's a good question.

I I can ask about it.

These artists do these all over the place, so um, but I I will check into that.

Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine.

I just wanted to know if that is already been addressed.

And then my other question, this is just like um you mentioned like how it's all about like community, and I personally love the idea, and I love how you explained to us like the individual elements and what they mean, like relating to Naperville.

I just wanted to know would it be possible for you guys to consider maybe like adding the whole education aspect to like that mural, whether it's like a QR code or a plaque explaining like how the elements relate to Naperville?

Because I loved how you explained it to us, and I wish that other people would also be able to see that.

We can do that.

Thank you.

It's a great idea.

Excellent questions.

Thank you.

Great idea.

That was awesome.

Um, and her question led me to ask staff do you all have paint requirements for these murals that are going up.

I don't think we have specific requirements, no.

All right.

I would be curious just because we are we do seem to be doing more of them, and I think they're great.

I see them in other cities.

I love it.

I would just love to know the types of qualities of paint, and if there's a reason some artists are choosing one versus the other durability, all the things.

Sure, we could we can look into that.

All right, great.

Thank you.

Yeah, and our artists have told us they're you know high quality, durable.

I don't have the technical specs on it, but I'm definitely gonna look into it now that we've had this conversation.

So yeah.

All right.

Uh any other questions from the commissioners.

I if I may, I did want to make one more comment to address Commissioner McDaniel's comment about um building out the site more.

It's interesting.

We have a mix of comments from the community.

Um you may have noticed we're all over Instagram and Facebook, so we we get a lot of feedback, which is fantastic.

So but we'll get one comment that says there's no parking, and then we'll get another comment that says there's too much parking, or there's too much, yeah.

There's there's too much parking out there, and you know, we want more buildings.

So we get it from both sides.

Um and the way we came up with how we densified the site actually had a lot to do with the parking requirements of our tenants.

So they were comfortable with the amount of square footage we had here with the amount of parking that we had, and we really pushed the envelope because we were trying to get as much as we could on there.

Uh but we kind of got to the point where they were saying, hey, we need more parking.

And we've actually um we have two valet areas, and you will start to see those come up and you're all invited to the grand opening of Ruth's Christ Steakhouse on Monday, so they're having their grand opening.

Um but once that opens, you'll see a valet stand there, probably on a more permanent basis, just as needed for additional parking needs, and then we also have a valet drop off uh in front of the green.

Um it just hasn't been needed at this point, so we hadn't implemented it, but it is all set up for that.

We do have a valet operator.

Uh they are there weekends for Picolo Buco right now.

Um but that's that's really a lot of what what went into it.

It was kind of a give and take of how much density can we get and how much parking and like I said, we get complaints on both sides of the spectrum from the community, so it's kind of interesting.

Uh you I I know you guys did the the absolute best with what you had.

Uh it's a fantastic location.

We I know every one of us up here uh is very excited to have every restaurant and every retailer that is there.

Um it would have been amazing if you were to able you had the ability or had the uh uh approval to go all the way up towards Portillos, but that just wasn't the case.

So thank you for for for what you were able to provide, and we're excited to have it.

Yeah, and uh I can't tell you too much, but there's more to come on on West Ridge Court.

So we have some exciting new retailers that we're talking to.

So this is actually having an impact on the rest of the property, so you will see a lot more fun stuff there.

Awesome.

Uh Commissioner, uh right.

Would you like to make any closing remarks?

Uh no, just thank you very much.

Yeah, thank you.

All right.

Uh I will uh have let's see.

Uh with no sorry, I lost my place.

Commissioner Richelia, would you like to read the motion?

I'd like to make a motion to support a petitioner's appeal with respect to the citywide build and design guidelines for the reason identified in the staff report and permit the proposed murals to be installed at two locations in block 59 and Westridge Court.

Second.

All right, Secretary Wright, please conduct roll call.

Casting only.

I approve.

Long and ball?

Agree with the motion.

McDaniel.

I agree.

Now I agree.

Richelia?

I agree with the motion.

Robins?

I agree.

And Wright agrees with the motion.

Motion passes seven zero.

Great.

Congratulations.

Thank you again.

Thank you.

All right.

Next is the approval of the minutes of February 18th, 2026 planning and zoning commission meeting.

Do we have any corrections to the minutes?

I would like to entertain a motion to approve the minutes of February 18th, 2026 planning and zoning meeting.

So muted.

Second.

All right.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Motion carries.

There's no old, new.

And I would like to entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting.

So mute.

Second.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Meeting adjourned.

Thank you.