Plan Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2017-11-02

STAFF REPORT 2017-39P: Zoning Map Amendment
Community Development Department Council Chambers, 7:30 PM, November 2, 2017


To: Paul Luke, Chairman, Skokie Plan Commission
From: Mike Voitik, Planning Technician
 Steve Marciani, Planning Supervisor
Re: 2017-39P: Zoning Map Amendment
 4000 and 4012 Church Street

 Related Case – 2017-40P: Site Plan Approval

General Information
Location 4000 and 4012 Church Street
Purpose To amend the zoning map to change the zoning district for 4000
 and 4012 Church Street from B1 Service Commercial to TX Transit
 Mixed-Use.
Petitioner The Church Street Synagogue, Inc., on behalf of Raffi Arzoumanian
Size of Site 18,970 square feet (0.435 acres) with frontage on Church Street
 and Crawford Avenue
Existing Zoning & B1 Service Commercial – vacant commercial building, parking as a
Land Use principal use
Adjacent Zoning & North R1 Single-Family – religious assembly
Land Use
 South B1 Service Commercial – multi-tenant office building,
 beauty parlor, vacant storefront, upper-story residences
 over nonresidential uses
 East B1 Service Commercial – sports and recreation
 education, beauty parlor, dry-cleaning and laundry
 establishment, fine and performing arts education
 West B1 Service Commercial – dry-cleaning and laundry
 establishment, beauty parlor, nail salon, clinic, upper-
 story residences over nonresidential uses
Comprehensive The site is designated as retail/service employment.
Plan


PETITIONER’S SUBMITTAL
The petitioner is requesting to amend the zoning map to change the zoning district for
4000 and 4012 Church Street from B1 Service Commercial to TX Transit Mixed-Use.
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The petitioner desires to rezone the subject site, which presently contains a vacant
commercial building and surface parking lots, to TX which allows for taller building
height and upper-story residential with more potential FAR. The petitioner intends to
raze the existing building, and construct a mixed-use building with enclosed parking and
stormwater detention (Case 2017-40P).
With regards to the request, the petitioner states that:
 The site is no longer being used as a religious facility. The zoning change is being
 requested to satisfy a demand by the community to provide housing close to (walking
 distance) to the synagogue for empty nesters and attract young families that wish to move
 close to the synagogue.

STAFF ANALYSIS
All pertinent departments and divisions were offered an opportunity to comment on this
case. Other than the Planning Division comments below, all others did not respond or
approved the request without comment.

 Planning Division
 The Planning Division has reviewed the submitted materials and supports the
 proposed zoning map amendment. The amendment is inconsistent with the
 retail/service use designation in the Comprehensive Plan in that residential uses are
 not contemplated within that land use type. However, mixed-use zoning districts did
 not exist when this land use sector map was adopted.
 The intent of the TX Transit Mixed-Use district is for areas within 2,000 feet of rapid
 transit or adjacent to CX Core Mixed-Use districts. While this property meets neither
 of those criteria, a new Arterial Rapid Transit station for the Pulse Dempster Line is
 planned for the intersection of Dempster and Crawford 4 blocks to the south, and an
 improved and rerouted Pace 215 bus stop will be in front of the site on Church
 Street, with direct access to the CTA Blue Line.
 Staff would also like to provide an opportunity to test how a 4-story building might
 look on a commercial corner of the Village’s linear strip-commercial properties. The
 NX Neighborhood Mixed-Use zoning district was conceived with the intention of
 potentially applying this zone to portions of these strip-commercial areas, but Staff
 has received much feedback from the development community that the 3-story
 height limit constrains economical redevelopment of these locations. The TX zoning
 district allows the 4th story. If the proposed building in 2017-40P is constructed,
 Staff will reevaluate the height and bulk requirements for the NX zoning district and
 recommend adjustments, if necessary.
 Both sides of the 4000 block of Church Street already have multistory mixed-use
 buildings. Amending the zoning district to TX would allow for new buildings to be
 built with a similar form to those surrounding uses.


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 The property in question is more suitable for the uses allowed under the proposed
 mixed-use zoning district than the existing zoning district. The subject site was
 originally zoned E Commercial and was rezoned to B1 Service Commercial sometime
 between 1952 and 1956. The building at 4000 Church Street was constructed in
 1958 as a restaurant and was eventually remodeled in 1997, becoming a hair salon.
 The building was subsequently occupied by a religious assembly use from 2005 until
 2013, when a new synagogue was constructed across the alley to the north of the
 subject site (2009-17P). The building on the site has remained vacant since that
 time.
 The surface parking lot at 4012 Church Street was constructed in 1964 to provide
 off-site parking for a business located on the south side of the street. The property
 was sold to The Church Street Synagogue within the past 5 years. The subject site
 appears to have been undeveloped prior to the construction of the building and the
 parking lot.
 The surrounding uses include a synagogue, a multi-tenant office building, hair
 salons, a vacant storefront, existing mixed-use buildings with upper-story residences
 over nonresidential uses to the west and southwest, a martial arts studio, dry-
 cleaning and laundry establishments, a dance studio, a nail salon, and a chiropractic
 clinic. The trend in development in the general area over the past 25 years has
 been very stable with commercial uses to the immediate east, west, and south of
 the subject site, and detached residences at the southeast corner of and within less
 than a half block of the other corners of the Church Street and Crawford Avenue
 intersection. The only new development within this time period was the conversion
 of several detached residences to the north of the site to religious assembly.

STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the petitioner’s request to amend the zoning map to change the
zoning district for 4000 and 4012 Church Street from B1 Service Commercial to TX
Transit Mixed-Use be GRANTED, subject to the attached Proposed Positive Findings of
Fact.

ATTACHMENTS
1. Proposed Positive Findings of Fact for 2017-39P
2. Land Use and Zoning Map




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Proposed Positive
Findings of Fact 2017-39P: Zoning Map Amendment
Community Development Department Council Chambers, 7:30 PM, November 2, 2017


Consideration Finding
The map amendment is consistent with the The amendment is inconsistent with the
Comprehensive Plan or development trends retail/service use designation in the
in the area that have taken place since the Comprehensive Plan in that residential
affected property was placed in the present uses are not contemplated within that
zoning district. land use type. However, mixed-use
 zoning districts did not exist when this
 land use sector map was adopted.
After identifying the existing uses and The existing B1 zoning district is very
zoning districts in the area, the property in restrictive with respect to the uses that
question is more suitable for the uses could be allowed on the subject
allowed under proposed zoning district than properties. Legal non-conforming mixed-
the existing zoning district. use buildings already exist on both sides
 of this block. Amending the zoning
 district to TX would allow for new
 buildings to be built with a similar form to
 those surrounding uses.




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