There could soon be 15 new townhomes in the 900 block of Harlem Avenue.
The Forest Park Planning and Zoning Commission approved on Sept. 29 a petition to change the zoning at 939-949 S. Harlem from a business district to a high-density residential one to accommodate about a half-acre of new townhomes. If the village council OKs the zoning change, construction on the property could start as early as next spring.
Kaitlyn Woodward, project architect at 2rz Architecture, presented the proposed development to the commission. The plans include 15 townhomes with 30 parking spaces on-site. The townhomes will be three stories tall, split into two parallel buildings with a one-way center drive aisle between them that connects the primary entrance on Harvard with the alley exit. Each unit will be between around 2,600 and 2,700 square feet.
Currently in an R3, high-density residential district, the maximum amount of a lot that a building can cover is 40%, but the townhomes are proposed to cover 85% of the site. Required setbacks for how far the building must be from the property line are 20 feet in the front of the property, 10 feet on the side and 25 feet in the rear. The townhouse development proposes setbacks of 10 feet, 10 inches in the front, 9 feet, 11 inches on the side, and 13 feet, 6 inches in the back of the property.
Kevin Hibbits was the only one of seven board members on the zoning commission to vote against the proposed townhomes.
“I’ve been fighting density for the last 20 years,” Hibbits said of why he voted no.
Woodward said 2rz Architecture originally pitched 16 townhomes instead of 15 but revised the plan after speaking with Steve Glinke — the head of the village’s building department — and Pete Losue, the contracted village planner out of Teska Associates. They decided to remove a townhome and extend the drive aisle for better site circulation, according to Woodward.
“We did look at minimizing and reducing some of the density on site, but I think that the townhomes do have this individual single-family feel to them by the setback and these private entries,” Woodward said. “We’re trying to provide this front yard aspect that is very much in line with the adjacent parcels fronting Harlem.”
Scott Whitebone, board member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, asked Woodward about flooding, since the permeability of the property would decrease with the development.
Woodward said stormwater is managed on site, as gutters and downspouts run into catch basins in the drive aisle and the back of the property, where water will feed into an 8-foot-deep underground stormwater retention tank that, once full, gradually drains into the sewer system.
Woodward agreed to the condition Whitebone requested to add to the proposal — to include permeable pavers on parts of the property to help rainwater better pass through surfaces.
If the village council approves the development, stormwater management will be reviewed by the village’s engineering consultant Christopher B. Burke Engineering. Then, because the property is larger than a half-acre, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District will have the final say over the stormwater management design.
“Evaluating impact is something the PZC is charged with, but the engineers are the ones that have full say over it,” Glinke told the Review.
And the same goes for the village council vote.
“Just like the zoning updates, [the village council] can throw out whatever they want to throw out,” Glinke said of previous concerns with stormwater management throughout the village. “But unless they come with some type of support for it that’s verifiable, they’re really not doing their duty.”
The only public commenter, a resident who lives next door to the proposed townhomes, expressed concern over the height of the buildings and how it would impact the sun exposure on his property.
Because of the comment, Steve Rummel, a board member of the zoning commission, asked to include a shadow analysis of adjacent properties as a condition of recommending the village council approve the development.
Paul Price, also a board member, asked whether there would be more cars on Harvard or in the alley while waiting for townhome gates to open. Woodward said, on Harvard, cars will have enough room to pull onto the property while waiting for a rolling gate to open. To exit into the alley, cars will wait on the property while a gate swings in.
There will be 20 deciduous trees planted along the front and sides of the property, serving both an aesthetic and buffering function. And 70 shrubs will be planted at the front entrances and along the foundation.
Glinke said the property has been vacant for close to a decade, previously home to two apartments and a gas station.
“I think they’re handsome, and I think it’s a perfect place for it,” Glinke told the Review about the new townhomes. “It’s a little bit of an anomaly on Harlem Avenue, which has all these single-family dwellings. But you want to do multi-family either on Madison Street, Harlem Avenue or Roosevelt,” he added, since it provides the least amount of impact to the rest of the village.