DeKalb Times

City of Highland Park Committee of the Whole met Oct. 28.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

Call to Order

At 4:30 p.m., Mayor Rotering called the meeting to order and asked for a roll call.

Roll Call

Members Present: Mayor Rotering, Councilmen Stolberg, Stone, Kaufman (arrived at 4:38 PM), Blumberg, Knobel, Holleman

Members Absent: None

Mayor Rotering declared a quorum was present.

Staff Present: Ghida Neukirch, Ashley Palbitska

Also Present: Corporation Counsel Steve Elrod

Approval of Minutes

A. Regular Meeting of the Committee of the Whole – October 15, 2019 Councilman Blumberg moved to approve the minutes from the regular meeting of the Committee of the Whole held on October 15, 2019, as amended. Councilwoman Stone seconded the motion.

On a voice vote:

Voting Yea: Mayor Rotering, Councilmen Stolberg, Stone, Blumberg, Knobel, Holleman

Voting Nay: None

Absent: Councilman Kaufman

Mayor Rotering declared the motion passed.

Closed Session

Councilman Blumberg moved the Committee close its meeting to the public, pursuant to the following cited sections of the Illinois Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/2(c)), for the purposes of approval of closed session minutes (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21)); ii) pending litigation 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11)); iii) lease of property (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5)); iv) investigation (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(14)); and v) employment matters (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)). Councilwoman Stone seconded the motion.

On a roll call vote:

Voting Yea: Mayor Rotering, Councilmen Stolberg, Stone, Blumberg, Knobel, Holleman

Voting Nay: None

Absent: Councilman Kaufman

Mayor Rotering declared the motion passed unanimously.

At 4:31 p.m., the Committee recessed the public portion of the meeting to meet in Closed Session.

At 7:07 p.m., Mayor Rotering reconvened the open session of the Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Members Present: Mayor Rotering, Councilmen Stolberg, Stone, Kaufman, Blumberg, Knobel, Holleman

Members Absent: None

City Staff Present: Ghida Neukirch, Larry Amidei, Joel Fontane, Ramesh Kanapareddy, Julie Logan, Rob Sabo, Drew Awsumb, Ron Bannon, Gerry Cameron, Annette Cardiff, Manny Gomez, Don Jensen, Jorge Torres, Ashley Palbitska

Also Present: Corporation Counsel Steve Elrod

Scheduled Business

New Zoning District in the Briergate Industrial District

Community Development Director Fontane presented staff recommendations to create a new zoning district, B4-BG, for a particular area within the Briergate District.

Councilwoman Stone and Community Development Director Fontane discussed the nursing care facility that is currently located in the Briergate Business District and how the new zoning may or may not impact that particular type of use.

The Committee and Community Development Director Fontane discussed the Greenway Buffer, which is a proposed special standard.

Councilman Holleman thanked Community Development Director Fontane on the work that was put into the presentation and being proactive about informing the development community as to what the City is looking for within the Briergate Industrial District.

Mayor Rotering and Community Development Director Fontane discussed the density provision for the proposed zoning district.

Councilwoman Stone discussed information as it pertains to a walk audit that was conducted previously and encouraged staff to review the notes from that audit to ensure the area would be walkable and bike friendly.

Councilman Stolberg noted his appreciation for the work that went in to the creation of a proposed new zoning district.

Councilman Stolberg and Community Development Director Fontane discussed the maximum allowable height and requested relief through the Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) process.

Councilman Holleman confirmed that developers would have to go through the PUD process and that process would address items like accessibility and walkability.

Others Matters

There was none.

Adjournment

Councilman Blumberg moved to adjourn. Councilman Kaufman seconded the motion.

On a voice vote, the Mayor declared the motion passed unanimously.

The Committee of the Whole adjourned its meeting at 7:26 p.m.

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