Title/Name/Summary
Patio Retail Center - Revised Plan
History
The Village Board approved a site plan and special use permit for the Patio Retail Center, located at 7850 W. 159th Street, in October of 2004. The corresponding landscape plan was approved in November of 2005. The project reached completion in 2007 and the Village’s landscape architectural consultant visited the site for a final inspection to release the letter of credit.
The inspection revealed that many elements of the site were not constructed per the Board approved site plan or landscape plan. Specifically:
The porous paving along the rear of the building was not installed.
The plaza and seating areas had been redesigned.
Landscape material was not installed per the Board approved plan.
A landscape island had been converted to four parking stalls.
The attached Board approved landscape plan has been labeled to highlight these discrepancies. The Patio Retail center as-built drawings are also attached to better see the differences between the two plans. The Village met with the petitioner to work towards a new plan that would meet the intent of the Board approved plan.
Porous Paving Deficiency
Porous paving allows for stormwater to slowly infiltrate into the ground, rather than be routed into a storm sewer. Because concrete had already been installed in the area where porous pavers were required, it did not make environmental or financial sense to require the concrete to be removed and replaced with porous pavers. Instead, the Village requested that the petitioner install some other green technology on the site, like a green roof system or native landscaping in the detention area. The petitioner chose to convert the existing grass-bottom detention basin into a native wet prairie basin. The native plants will reduce water needed for irrigation, reduce carbon emissions through less mowing and will provide a habitat for birds and insects.
Additional Parking Stalls
The Village requested that the four additional parking stalls be converted back to landscape islands, even if the islands were in a different location. The petitioner requested that the parking stalls remain, due to the needs of the retail center. They noted that an interested tenant had not signed a lease due to tight parking situation on the site. As a compromise, the Village requested a cash-in-lieu payment for the missing landscape islands in the amount of $4,422.50. The Village calculated this donation amount by taking 50% of the estimated construction costs for converting four parking stalls into landscape islands with curbs. The petitioner has already submitted a check to the Village’s tree mitigation account. This money will be used to install approximately 17 trees in Village public spaces and parkways.
Landscaping and Redesigned Seating Areas
Because on-site conditions can present challenges when installing landscape material, the Village does often accept substitutions or new planting schemes as long as the overall quantity of plants has been provided and that the resulting project is an improvement. For example, the as built drawings for this project show that a large amount of plant material was planted at the north end of the detention area. Although this material was not on the Board approved landscape plan, it does provide an extensive buffer between the Patio Retail Center and the adjacent residential property.
An analysis of the as-built drawings revealed that in terms of quantity, the installed plan fell short of the Board approved plan by 3 canopy trees, 4 ornamental trees, 59 shrubs and 45 perennials. Additionally, the transformer and the garbage area had no landscape screening. The petitioner has since provided that attached proposed plan that shows landscape quantities in an amount equal to the Board approved plan and includes screening of the transformer and garbage areas.
The additional landscaping has been installed and will be inspected by the Village within the next two weeks. The petitioner has proposed installing the detention seeding in the spring, which is acceptable. The detention area seeding should be completed by May 1, 2009. The Village will hold the project's outstanding letter of credit until final landscape inspections are complete.
This is now before the Village Board for consideration.
Recommended Action/Motion
I move to approve the revised plans for the Patio Retail Center as shown on the drawings titled ‘New Patio Retail Center,’ prepared by Trippiedi design, p.c., dated 07-30-08, most recent revision 09-23-08, sheets L1 and L2, subject to the following condition:
1 - That the detention area seeding be installed per the approved plan by May 1, 2009.