DeKalb Times

City of Sycamore Planning & Zoning Commission met June 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

Chairperson Nate Kitterman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and City Clerk Mary Kalk called the roll. The Commissioners present were Doug Breunlin, Dave Finney, Jill Franke, Eli Hamingson, Chuck Stowe, Brandon Thomas and Matt Woodstrup. Commissioners Daryl Graves, Rachel Sauber, and Alan Zantout. were absent. Others present were City Manager Michael Hall, City Attorney Keith Foster, Director of Community Development John Sauter, and City Engineer Mark Bushnell.

Chairperson Kitterman introduced newly appointed Commissioner Brandon Thomas replacing Bill Davey.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Motion- Commissioner Hamingson moved to approve the agenda and Commissioner Finney seconded the motion. Voice Vote Chairperson Kitterman called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Commissioners present voted aye. Motion carried 8- 0.

CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of the Minutes for the Meeting of May 12, 2025.

Motion- Commissioner Franke moved to approve the Minutes of the May 12, 2025, meeting and Commissioner Finney seconded the motion.

Roll Call Vote Chairperson Kitterman called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Commissioners Breunlin, Finney, Franke, Hamingson, Stowe, Thomas, Woodstrup, and Chairperson Kitterman voted aye. Motion carried 8- 0.

AUDIENCE TO VISITORS

ACTION ITEMS

A. Consideration of a Request by Chris Youssi of Youssi Custom Homes for review of an Amendment to a Special Use Permit for a Planned Unit Development for 3.47 acres located within Stonegate at Heron Creek Subdivision (PINs: 06-20-326-108, 06-20-326-110, 06-20-326-111, 06-20-326-112, 06-20-326-113, 06-20-326-104, 06-20- 326-109) in Sycamore, Illinois in accordance with Article 4.3 of the City’s Unified Development Ordinance.

City Manager Michael Hall said Mr. Youssi came forward in February with a concept plan for the property on Stonegate Drive where he received positive feedback and this is for the final plat and developer agreement, both of which have been reviewed by staff. Details are in the packet but pointed out that setbacks are changing on four of the buildings.

Commissioner Kitterman opened the Public Hearing at 6:04 pm.

Nikita McAlpin, 621 Stonegate Drive, is concerned with safety since the park was relocated from being centralized where it could be seen by several buildings to bordering Peace Road and the memory care facility all tucked away. She asked what would be done for safety.

Community Development Director John Sauter said that this was brought up to Mr. Youssi and there will be a berm along Peace Road and along the memory care facility. He added that the park was originally placed around lot 31 for which Mr. Youssi has proposed to construct a building on the at lot. The park grew in size by a half-acre by moving it to the proposed site.

Austin Montgomery, Youssi Representative, 3565 Middle Road, Bettendorf, IA, said he believes there will be berms. Jerry Malmassari, 1921 El Fran Drive, asked if there was any interest in the expansion of Peace Road to a four-lane road.

City Engineer Mark Bushnell said yes, the County has plans to widen Peace Road up to Peace, Plank, and Route 23. They have enough right-of-way now and will not need to acquire more property.

Commissioner Breunlin suggested the berm along Peace Road be significant.

Community Development Director John Sauter said that is a possibility but recommended that if that is what the commission feels is necessary, to make a recommendation with that request to move forward to city council. They are far into the process, so now is the time to discuss this.

Chairperson Kitterman asked if it would be beneficial to put something on top of the berm that won’t take years to grow. Austin Montgomery said there they can look at different options.

Julie Brannon, 604 Clayton Circle, is concerned about the road getting narrower around the circle losing the parking along the road and asked where all those people will park?

Community Development Director John Sauter said that this was addressed during the concept plan phase. He is code compliant for parking and actually has quite a bit more parking than required. The concerns were forwarded to Mr. Youssi, who chose to move forward without any on-street parking. It is a private road, so the city has no authority to require him to have in excess of the requirement.

Chairperson Kitterman closed the Public Hearing at 6:17 pm.

Questioned about the process, Community Development Director John Sauter said if they go back to the drawing board, all action would be postponed, whereas if the commission feels a certain height of berm would be beneficial, they could give a favorable recommendation with that condition that the berm height is a minimum of how many feet necessary.

City Attorney Keith Foster agreed with that approach moving forward with that condition and Mr. Youssi can decide if he wants to move forward at next Monday night’s council meeting.

City Engineer Mark Bushnell, regarding the question of height restrictions, said that there are only restrictions on the slope of the berm not being able to grade into the Peace Road right-of-way. They are limited on space between the setback and the building.

Community Development Director John Sauter, based on discussion of trees, suggested something for example, a five-foot berm with 60% screening on top of the berm with some sort of pine or spruce trees which would be maintained by the homeowner’s association.

City Engineer Mark Bushnell said the existing development to the east has a berm with evergreen trees, so his recommendation is a continuation of trees providing a 60-70% screening.

Motion- Commissioner Stowe moved to approve the consideration with the addendum that the berm at the park be raised to five feet with 60% coverage and Commissioner Finney seconded the motion.

Roll Call Vote Chairperson Kitterman called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. All Commissioners Breunlin, Finney, Franke, Hamingson, Stowe, Thomas, Woodstrup, and Chairperson Kitterman voted aye. Motion carried 8- 0.

WORKSHOPS

A. Consideration of a Development Proposal by Chuck Shepard, Shepard Construction LLC, at the Property Located at 2110 Coltonville Road. (PIN 08-01-276-006).

Community Development Director John Sauter gave some background that Mr. Shepard is proposing to construct three commercial buildings along Electric Park Drive which would need to be annexed and rezoned to C-3:Highway Business to accommodate those uses in retail and professional uses. At some point this will come back to the commission and council for the property to be resubdivded for a multi-family proposal for the westerly part of the property.

Chuck Shepard, Old Rich Point LLC with Tom and Todd Weaver, said they are working with the City Engineer and IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) to straighten out the easement. He said there are no particular uses yet for the commercial buildings although there is some interest.

Comments from the commission included that “it’s a good fit and will clean up the corner” and “it fits the community”. Others asked about concerns for traffic studies to which the engineer said this doesn’t anticipate a great traffic generator.

Community Development Director John Sauter explained that the next steps are to bring a petition to the council to annex the property, another one or two Planning & Zoning Commission meetings for the preliminary plat, final plat, and resubdivision of the property. If they receive a favorable consensus tonight, it will be brought to the council for annexation of the property. This would be annexed to the default R-1, Single Family Residential. As part of these next steps, it would be rezoned to C-3: Highway Business.

The consensus of the commissioners present was to move forward as the project is headed in the right direction.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion

Commissioner Franke motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:41 p.m. and Commissioner Woodstrup seconded the motion. Voice Vote Chairperson Kitterman called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Commissioners present voted aye, Motion carried 8-0.

https://www.cityofsycamore.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07142025-366