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MINUTES OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS MEETING
HELD APRIL 14, 2010
The Zoning Board of Appeals of the Village
of Palos Park, Cook County, Illinois held a public hearing on Wednesday,
April 14, 2010. Chairman David Lencioni called the meeting to order at
7:30 p.m. Answering to roll call were members: Stephen Maier, Phyllis
Adams, Jerry Dill, Jack Martin, Nancy Konior and Cathy Saylors. Also in
attendance were Steve Manning, Community Development Director and
Colleen Santo, Secretary to the Zoning Board.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mrs. Konior moved, seconded by Mr. Maier, to
approve the minutes of the January 21, 2010 meeting as presented.
Upon roll call vote, the motion carried as follows:
AYES: -6- Board Members Konior, Maier, Adams, Dill, Saylors and
Chairman Lencioni
NAYS: -0-
ABSTAIN: -1- Board Member Martin
ABSENT: -0-
STAFF
ANNOUNCEMENT: Proper notices for all public hearings were published in
the Regional on March 25, 2010 as required by Village Code. Notice
letters were also mailed to neighbors and a notice sign was posted in
front of the subject sites. No correspondence was received as testimony
for the hearing.
PETITION OF MR. CHRISTIANO: Owner and occupant of house and property at
8920 W 125th Street, has requested variances to the setback requirements
in Chapter 1464 of the Village Code for the planned demolition of the
existing house and construction of a new house. The variances would
include a front setback of 25.5 feet where 38 feet is otherwise
required, a corner side setback of 33.6 feet where 50 feet is otherwise
required, and a side setback of 17 feet where 24.75 feet is otherwise
required.
PETITIONER RESPONSE: Mr. Christiano stated the reason he is asking for
variances is due to the topography of the land, which consists of a
steep hill. His home would be a 2 bedroom ranch, nothing extreme. His
neighbor in the back, Mr. and Mrs. Walsh, are 14 feet off of 90th
Avenue. Michael Hubert, Mr. Christiano’s Architect, stated this is the
home Tony wants & he did his best to fit it in the lot. He stated that
the further you go back in the lot the deeper the drop off. Each
topography line on the site plan represents a foot drop. Mr. Hubert
stated he spoke to Illinois Department of transportation regarding the
so called street (dedicated street). He stated there is no way it can
ever be built as a street because of the extreme drop off from the front
to the rear. If you were to put a road through it would be over 12%,
which is well above the 5% standards set by the IDOT. Mr. Hubert said he
does not understand why this is considered a corner side yard. He said
by the rules yes, but actuality this will never be a street. He also
stated that they tried to save trees with the current site plan.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Mrs. Eileen Dellert, 12430 Forest Glen
Stated that Tony abided by the Village. She does not understand why the
Village would not sell him the vacated street for the amount it was
appraised for. She stated she wants him in the neighborhood and he has
jumped hoops for the Village and feels he has been dealt a dirty deal.
Mr. Rich O’Malley, 12503 S. 90TH Ave
Stated he is neighbor across the street and told the board if they make
Tony move his house he will lose all the trees. Chairman Lencioni stated
that the board is not making Tony do anything.
Mrs. Pat Kelly, 12423 Forest Glen
Would like to see Mr. Christiano build, but her only concern is the run
off water because she is directly downhill from him.
DISCUSSION: Chairman Lencioni asked if they ever considered flipping the
footprint. In other words placing the garage on the west side of the
house. Then maybe they would be within one side yard. He asked Mr.
Manning with the corner side yard being on an unimproved right-of-way if
this would change the setback requirement. Mr. Manning stated no; it
must be 50 feet with a 33% variance would make it 33 1/2, which is the
max variance you can get. Mr. Dill stated it was obvious that the street
will never be built there and asked if the street was considered for
vacating. Mr. Manning said the council did agree to negotiate the sale
of land to vacate. Mr. Christiano stated he went through the process.
The Village’s appraisal was for $15,000 and the council decided this was
not enough money so they offered it to him at $28,000, which is a 54%
increase. At this point he walked away. Mr. Dill stated if the street
was vacated it would alleviate all of this. Mr. Maier stated the
buildable width of the lot is 165 feet, which gives Mr. Christiano 90
feet to build. Chairman Lencioni stated he can understand the issues in
the front yard, but in new construction the board does not grant a
hardship because it’s the house you want. It is incumbent on the owner
to try to select a house design or type that fits on the lot within the
given setbacks. Mrs. Konior asked if Mr. Christiano could re-visit
vacating the street and possibly re-negotiate. Mr. Manning stated that
the Council was open for that. Mr. Hubert asked what the definition of a
hardship was and the board explained. Mr. Maier asked what the hardship
was. Mr. Martin stated Mr. Christiano created his own hardship with the
design of the house. Mr. Hubert disagreed and stated it was the shape of
the lot and the home must be long & narrow. Discussion went back and
forth.
FINDINGS OF FACT: No hardship was found
CHAIRMAN LENCIONI ASKED FOR A MOTION: Mr. Martin, seconded by Mrs. Adams
to deny the front setback variance as requested.
Upon roll call vote, the motion carried as follows:
AYES:-5- Board Members Martin, Adams, Maier, Konior, Saylors
NAYS:-1- Chairman Lencioni
ABSTAIN: -1- Board Member Dill
ABSENT-0-
CHAIRMAN LENCIONI ASKED FOR A MOTION: Mr.
Maier, seconded by Mr. Martin to deny interior side setback (east)
variance as requested.
Upon roll call vote, the motion carried as follows:
AYES:-7- Board Members Maier, Martin, Adams, Dill, Konior, Saylors,
and Chairman Lencioni
NAYS:-0-
ABSENT-0-
CHAIRMAN
LENCIONI ASKED FOR A MOTION: Mr. Dill, seconded by Mr. Martin to approve
corner side setback (west) variance as requested.
Upon roll call vote, the motion carried as follows:
AYES:-4- Board Members Dill, Martin, Saylors and Chairman Lencioni
NAYS:-3- Board Members Maier, Adams, and Konior
ABSENT-0-
Chairman
Lencioni advised the petitioner to attend the Village Council meeting on
April 26, 2010. Petitioner stated he will be out of town and Mr. Manning
stated that arrangements can be made.
OLD BUSINESS: Mr. Maier shared his thoughts on making a code amendment
that would limit retaining walls and elevated driveways in required side
yards.
ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business Chairman Lencioni adjourned
the hearing at
8:40 p.m. Upon voice vote, the motion carried unanimously.
Minutes respectfully submitted,
______________________________________________
Colleen M. Santo
Secretary to the Zoning Board of Appeals
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