The Brookfield Village Board on March 10 cleared the way for two new homes to be built on what was formerly an oversized lot in the 8800 block of Congress Park Avenue.
Village trustees voted 4-1 (Trustee Nicole Gilhooley was absent) to approve splitting the 100-foot lot at 8819 Congress Park Ave. into two 50-foot-wide parcels. Board approval was needed because splitting the lot will create two substandard parcels. While each is wide enough, neither is deep enough, according to the village’s zoning code.
Trustee Michelle Ryan voted against the subdivision, saying the property owner hadn’t proven any hardship in his request for the zoning variation. The owner could have built one home on the lot.
The plan, however, is to build two homes, at least one of which is being built speculatively. The other reportedly is being built for a member of the developer’s family.
Other trustees supported the subdivision based on a precedent set on that very block in the 1990s. At that time a real estate broker named Sam Memeti won approval to subdivide a similar lot and built two homes, one of which he still lives in. Memeti also is connected to the project at 8819 Congress Park Ave.
Trustees also unanimously approved a resolution on March 10 allowing the owners of a 120-foot-wide lot at 8834 Congress Park Ave. to subdivide the land into two lots. The property is owned by a real estate development company.
A house, which was extensively renovated by the developer, already exists on the western half of the property. The developer plans to build another house on the eastern half of the property. But the property differs from the parcel on the south side of the street, since the subdivided lots of the northern parcel meet zoning requirements for constructing another home there.
Apartment plan gets prelim OK
At the same meeting, village trustees voted 5-0 to approve the preliminary development plan for a nine-unit apartment building at 8932-36 Fairview Ave.
The developer, Oakbrook Terrace-based RMG Realty, needs several zoning variations to build a three-story brick building consisting of one- and two-bedroom apartments. The preliminary site plan calls for parking in both the front and rear of the property and for the building to be built across the full width of the 75-foot lot.
In recommending the preliminary plan for approval, members of the Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission requested that RMG consider altering the proposal to eliminate the zero lot-line design on the west side of the property, to alter the parking arrangement and to provide officials with a shadow study, a more detailed landscape plan and a storm water plan among other things.
RMG Realty will now develop a final plan, which will again be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission before heading back to the Brookfield Village Board for final approval or denial.
No date has been set for the next Planning and Zoning Commission hearing.
Auto parts store plan OK’d
Brookfield trustees on March 10 also approved a zoning variation requested by Advance Auto Parts in connection with the construction of a new retail store at 9310 Ogden Ave.
The auto parts retailer needed a zoning variation after it revised its plans for a store at the northeast corner of Ogden and Raymond avenues. Advance Auto Parts is building an 8,000-square-foot store on the property. According to the zoning code, a store of that size requires more parking spaces than can be accommodated there.
Trustees agreed with village staff in recommending the variation, arguing that the business still has plenty of onsite parking for its customers.
According to Assistant Village Manager Keith Sbiral, Advance Auto Parts will submit its final building plans to the village this week.
