Lake County Planning, Building and Development Dimucci Property Update: August 28, 2012 Dear Resident,    As you know, the Dimucci application proposes a regionally significant future commercial development of the 108.79 acre site at the northeast corner of US Route 12 and Old McHenry Roads. Numerous public comments were received throughout the County's open house process and Regional Planning Commission meetings over the past several months. Comments focused on the development's size and scale, compatibility with the surrounding area, and other important factors. The Villages of Hawthorn Woods and North Barrington have also asked to have a seat at the table in planning for the future commercial development of this site in light of their previous 2002 intergovernmental agreement (IGA) and the impact of the property's future development on their communities. In light of these concerns, at the Zoning Board of Appeals' public hearing on July 25, staff requested a postponement of the public hearing process in order to foster further discussions between the County and the Villages about the project. Led by County Board members Steve Mountsier and Craig Taylor, North Barrington President Albert Pino and Hawthorn Woods Mayor Joseph Mancino, and assisted by their respective staff, those meetings have been ongoing and productive, and have helped identify various areas of common ground. As a result of these meetings, Village President Pino and Mayor Mancino and County Board members Mountsier and Taylor are pleased to announce conceptual agreement on a series of development conditions that will be jointly proposed to the Zoning Board of Appeals when it reconvenes its public hearing on September 6. These development conditions, if adopted by the Zoning Board of Appeals and later by their respective boards, would enhance the development project, create additional local benefit, improve the project's area compatibility, and therefore elicit their support for the project's ultimate approval by the County Board. The conditions and other legal terms (including retail sales tax sharing and agreed terms on sewer and water service) would form the basis for an intergovernmental agreement to be executed concurrently by the County and the two villages at the time of the development's rezoning and Conditional Use Permit/PUD Preliminary Development Plan approval later this year. Their agreement calls for various enhancements summarized below: * A reduction of the project's total floor area from 800,000 square feet to 450,000 square feet of retail with any additional floor area (up to a total project floor area limit of 650,000 square feet) devoted exclusively to local service-oriented uses such as restaurants, entertainment, local commercial service, neighborhood-oriented uses and general office. This proposed reduced scale, consistent with the Villages' concept in their 2002 IGA, is less than half of that allowed in General Commercial Zoning at approximately 1,400,000 square feet of floor area and a little over half of the approximately 1,200,000 square feet of floor area in the Deer Park Triangle commercial area. * An emphasis on separate buildings with open-air circulation and outdoor pedestrian amenities. * Building heights and stories dictated by setbacks (35' height within 300' of Old McHenry Road, 50' and no more than 3 stories for the remainder of the buildable area, both heights subject to a 15' exception for architectural features). * Consistent with the Villages' 2002 IGA, a prohibition of various uses on the property including hospitals/medical centers with overnight beds; adult entertainment; tattoo parlors; crematoria and mortuaries; boat, car and other vehicle sales with outdoor display; airports and bus terminals; outdoor kennels; self-service Laundromats; and gas stations. * 100% screening provisions for any outdoor retail storage and display. * Screening and a 2-story limit for parking structures. * Additional screening enhancements to the existing landscaping and berm along abutting residential properties in Valentine Manor Subdivision, as well as landscaping buffering requirements along all other property lines. * On site-security and the set-aside of land for Sheriff's and Fire Protection District substations at the request of such agencies. * Various development review mechanisms (including stormwater management reviews) and performance guarantees for landscaping to ensure the property's development meets all construction, environmental and maintenance standards. County Board members Mountsier and Taylor, Village President Pino and Mayor Mancino envision this agreement forming the basis for a successor intergovernmental agreement to the Villages' 2002 IGA, and in turn a more inclusive intergovernmental outcome for this important property. They plan to present their recommended conditions to the Zoning Board of Appeals at its upcoming re-scheduled hearing on September 6, at the Concorde Banquets, 20922 N. Rand Road, at 5 p.m. Additional public hearing dates will be announced when scheduled by the ZBA. Following the public hearing process, the matter will advance to the County Board's Planning, Building and Zoning Committee and then to the full County Board. Village President Pino, Mayor Mancino and County Board members Mountsier and Taylor look forward to sharing their successful discussions with the public on September 6. For more information about the project, please visit http://www.lakecountyil.gov/dimucciproperty/Pages/Default.aspx.