Village of Lombard Legistar System

Trustee Dana Moreau, Chairperson of the Economic and Community Development

Committee, reported the committee had met. The committee discussed the business

visitation program. The program works with businesses to find a location in Lombard.

This would be a means of measuring success. The committee discussed the Business

Resource Handbook which would include commonly asked questions. This will also be

added to the website when completed. Putting this tool on the website will give the

Village an indication of how many people are looking at the site. Trustee Moreau

encouraged residents to nominate a businesses in Lombard if they knew of a business

that had given them exceptional service or has excelled in property maintenance. The

awards will be announced at the Luncheon on April 22. She noted the last Downtown

Visioning Meeting will be held at the Village Hall on February 10 at 7 pm. She

encouraged residents and business owners who are not able to attend the meeting, to

log onto the Village website and follow the link to convey their thoughts. The next

meeting will be March 4.

Village Manager Hulseberg indicated the Village Board had remanded this item back to

the Plan Commission for further review and it was now coming back to the Board.

Director of Community Development Bill Heniff stated the Plan Commission reviewed

the request at the January 26 meeting. The request was coming to the Village Board

without a recommendation as the Plan Commission vote was three to three.

Bill Dennis, 442 N. Park Avenue, the pensioner indicated Creative Daycare had been in

business for twenty-six years. He was asking the Village Board for a resolution to this

matter. All inspections of the property have been made. He spoke of other daycare

facilities in the area including Growing Place and Montessori that are located in

residential areas. He stated that they are attempting to use an existing property that is

vacant and can be put to good use. He advised he had walked the neighborhood and

talked with the residents. Eight of the ten residents had no objection. The property has

been there for forty or fifty years and had been used as a church and a school. He

noted the area was not strictly residential as in house after house after house. He

stated they have invested a lot of time and money into trying to make this work and

they have taken this seriously. They have worked to cooperate with the school, the

church, the neighbors and the Village. The traffic study did not show any additional

traffic issue. He indicated he met with the St. John's school and church administrators.

He felt this would be a great addition to the community. He reported the Village had

inspected the property and an estimate of $27,000 was given for ADA compliance. A

contractor who does these improvements, indicated the cost would be double. He felt

the building can comply with ADA without additional changes. He stated they have

never had a handicapped child in their school.

Trustee Tross stated he felt the petitioner was giving testimony in the case.

Bill Dennis stated he was just trying to convey that the building can comply with ADA

requirements without following the recommendation of the Plan Commission.

President Mueller indicated that legal council has advised this was part of the original

petition and can be heard.

Attorney Bayer stated that the petitioner can speak on anything related to the original

request.

Cheryl Dennis, 442 N. Park, owner and operator of Creative Daycare, stated that her

husband has spoken on behalf of their request and felt the Board needed to meet her.

She indicated she has lived in Lombard for 21 years and been in business since 1981.

Her business is small and intimate in nature and is licensed by the DCFS. She

provides quality service preparing pre-school children for kindergarten. She stated she

has done volunteer work in the community over the years. She learned of the vacant

St. John building through a friend. She advised that this location is centrally located.

They were totally unaware of the issues with the St. John building when they started

their petition. She thanked the Village Board and staff for their time. She felt this was a

needed service in the community.

Alice Glennon, 331 Brookfield, stated she had known the Dennis family for many years

and felt this would be a great asset for the community.

Janet Imbrogna, 14 Lincoln Court, stated she supported the petition and felt it was a

good thing for the community.

Joe Jaruseski, 1107 Michelle Lane, past chairman of St. John's and chair of the board

of education, felt Creative Daycare was a good fit for the location. He felt St. John's

was following Ordinance 5665 as passed in 2005. He stated Creative Daycare has

cared for thousands of children in their 26 years. He felt the traffic was not a problem

with the additional parking. He felt the daycare would fill a clear need.

Jeanne Johnson, 1005 E. Maple, supported Creative Daycare and said they had a solid

reputation, the owners live in Lombard and are active in the community. She noted

there were other daycare facilities in residential areas and was not familiar with the

zoning issues. She felt they would be a great asset and give quality daycare and were

very reputable. She felt this was an asset to the community in these economic times.

She thanked the Village Board.

Karen Ness, 219 W. Ash, stated she lives 250 feet away from St. John's. She reminded

the Board that when the new school was built, St. John's agreed to use the building for

storage and an occasional event. She felt that any revenue generated would be a

violation of the agreement and talked about commercial use in a residential area. She

stated the property values of the homes have been de-valued. She spoke about the

drivers from St. John's going the wrong way on a one-way street and not adhering to

the laws of the community. She stated she new times were tough, but felt that this was

in violation of the conditional use.

Susan Tepper, 335 S. Grace, spoke in favor of Creative Daycare. She indicated Ms.

Dennis was a respected business woman and daycare provider and was hard working

and dedicated. She indicated she had known her for 17 years and that her children

were enrolled in her daycare in Villa Park. She felt the St. John location was a good fit

for the daycare.

Trustee Gron stated he had no issue with the daycare, but had an issue with the

conditional use and St. John indicating they would use the old building for storage and

some youth activities. They had indicated that upgrading the school was too costly and

that was the reason for the new school. He understood with the economic times, the

daycare would be beneficial to St. John. He reported he had spoken to the neighbors

and hoped the area would stay historic in nature.

Trustee Soderstrom felt there were two major issues. The first issue was that of

resident concern. It appeared that there was no major resident concern as there was

only one person speaking against the daycare. He felt that issued was resolved. The

second issue was that St. John had assured the Village that the old school was not in

good condition and that was the reason they had petitioned the Village to build the new

school. St. John had also stated the old school would only be used for storage and

meetings, now there is a request before the Board for a for-profit daycare to occupy the

building. He stated he did not like being duped. He felt the daycare was a viable and

upstanding business and there was a need in the community. He stated he would

swallow the pill for the benefit of the community and support the daycare.

Trustee Moreau questioned the zoning in the Comprehensive Plan for that area. She

questioned how a daycare could be commercial. She wanted children to have security

and green space and not take them to a strip mall for daycare.

Director Heniff stated daycare facilities were allowed in B Districts not allowed in R

Districts, so therefore it is considered a commercial business.

Trustee Tross stated that he felt it was never an issue of the daycare as an ancillary

use at St. John. He stated a conditional use was necessary for the daycare unless it

had been grandfathered in, which was not the case. He felt anyone opening a business

should have review and conditions placed on them. He noted that in 2005 St. John

secured a conditional use to build a new school and at that time indicated the old school

was not safe; would be too costly to upgrade and had concern about safety. That was

the selling point for building the new school across the street. He was surprised that St.

John was not the petitioner in this case. He questioned if the building was not safe,

how they had used it for basketball games. He indicated that this petition may not be

palatable, but agreed to support the November 17 Plan Commission recommendation

with conditions.

Trustee Fitzpatrick stated she had concerns about the vacant building. She felt an

elementary school was different than a daycare. She appreciated the comments made

this evening. She felt this was not a large chain coming into the building like an Arby's

or a Walgreens. She did not feel congestion was an issue as she noted that St. John's

was not up to capacity and that due to the economy, some of the students at St. John

may be going to public schools. She stated she would support the petition.

Trustee O'Brien indicated as long as the standards were met, he would support. He felt

taking care of children was important.

Trustee Gron felt there will always be issues. He asked Bill Dennis if he needed two

weeks to assess the ADA compliance issues.

Bill Dennis sated that he never said they would not accept the ADA requirements, but

questioned what complies with ADA and what does not. He felt the daycare would be

compliant with the State of Illinois and that there was confusion over ADA requirements

and Life Safety Codes.

Trustee Tross felt the ADA compliance was an important issue. He stated the Village

Board will take action on the item tonight. He questioned waiving first reading and

passing on second reading as the matter would then be out of the Village Board's

hands and the petitioner may not want a condition as required.

Bill Dennis stated they will accept the conditions, but felt there was some confusion.

Trustee Tross felt it was important for the petitioner to have definite answers on

required conditions. He suggested passing on first reading only so the petitioner and

staff had two weeks to review the conditions and there would be no misunderstandings.

Director Heniff stated the November and December packets did explain the ADA

requirements. He indicated a full level of compliance was not required by the State.

Bill Dennis sated they will accommodate the Village and questioned staging the costs

as they were quite high.

Trustee Gron moved waiver of first and passed on second reading and acceptance of

the conditions as set up by PC 08-32.

President Mueller questioned the waiver of first reading.

Trustee Tross felt time was not an issue.

Director Heniff stated the Community Development staff will work with the petitioner.

Fire Chief Seagraves questioned if all the ADA issues needed to be met before an

occupancy permit be issued.

Attorney Bayer questioned the ADA minimum requirements for this use. He stated

based on their use, the Village may be asking the petitioner to go beyond what is

required. He stated the daycare needed to be ADA compliant. He stated if the Plan

Commission included other requirements, it may preclude the entire facility being ADA

compliant.

Director Heniff stated the area used for the daycare and the bathroom needed to be

ADA compliant.

Attorney Bayer felt because of the money and space being utilized, that only the smaller

area being used would need to be ADA compliant.

Trustee Tross questioned if the Plan Commission recommendations were different than

the petitioner's request. He felt the petitioner should have time to research what is

needed. He did not want the petitioner have to come back to the Board after the

request was passed. He stated he supported the November 17 Plan Commission

recommendation. He felt the petitioner needed to research the impact of the

requirements so that if an elevator was required, they knew that ahead of time.

President Mueller suggested not waiving first reading to allow time for the petitioner and

staff to review the petition and requirements.

Trustee Fitzpatrick felt the Village should not impose stronger regulations on the

petitioner than are required. She indicated this was a school environment for daycare

and not a physical therapy business.

Chief Seagraves felt there were two issues. One is the issue of the State Building

Codes and the other is all of the Codes and recommendation from the Plan

Commission. He felt the Board had established that all Codes be met. The Chief stated

that when he left tonight he wanted to know what requirements his staff would have to

assure had been accomplished before the daycare was allowed to open. He felt it was

a more complex situation going from a school, to a vacant school to a daycare. He

stated there were requirements for a chair lift or ramp that needed to be addressed as

well as all accessibility standards. He noted that although the daycare had not had any

handicapped children that did not mean they would not in the future have a

handicapped child and that handicapped accessibility had to be provided for a parent or

visitor to the daycare.

President Mueller felt the Board should not interpret the law and that the petitioner and

staff should meet to review the requirements.

Trustee Soderstrom requested the waiver of first be removed from the motion.

Trustee Gron removed the waiver of first reading from the motion.

Trustee Tross suggested staff meet with Trustee Gron before the next meeting of the

Village Board and before this item is passed on second reading.