The Village of Lake Bluff Joint Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals on April 16 voted to recommend the village board approve a zoning-text amendment and special-use permit to allow a Planned Mixed-Use Development (PMD) at 570 Evanston Avenue (Block 3), including modifications and variances to PMD/R4 standards.

Tom Dobbins, the project architect, told the commission the owners seek to develop a four-unit condominium building on a 14,250-square-foot parcel that comprises about 43 percent of Block 3. "If the village was not in favor of, at least conceptually, multifamily on the entire block, including the corner that we're referring to, which is 570 Evanston, we would not be here," Dobbins said, underscoring that the proposal was brought forward in the context of an established policy preference for multifamily housing on Block 3.

The applicant requested three main approvals: a zoning text amendment to permit a PMD by special use for R4 lots contiguous with the Central Business District; a special-use permit for a PMD with modifications to lot-area and yard standards; and variances to allow a building exceeding 30 feet in height (the project would reach about 34 feet at limited ridgelines and include a partial third floor). The design incorporates pitched roofs, dormers, porches and underground parking. Dobbins said the applicant reduced the building size from earlier presentations, revised exterior materials from limestone to brick to better coordinate with the adjacent bank building project, and added a north-side covered porch at a buyer’s request.

Commission discussion focused on tree preservation, fence height and location, daylight-plane impacts for the houses to the north, the building’s massing relative to the adjacent approved bank-building development and public-benefit elements such as a small paved front area with benches. Commissioners praised changes to chimney scale and materiality and asked the applicant to provide a tree-replacement plan if mature oaks or the evergreen buffer cannot be preserved. Several commissioners said an 8-foot decorative fence could be acceptable if limited to the location shown on the development plan and not extended eastward to the Evanston corner where it would create a solid wall for pedestrians.

Courtney Trombley, an investor in the property, described the intended buyers as Lake Bluff residents seeking low-maintenance single-floor living and said the project reflects extensive neighbor outreach: "A lot of patience goes in for a couple of these neighbors ... our plans ... have only benefited from getting everybody's support of this." Member Miller and others supported the PMD tool and the requested height relief as appropriate for the block’s transitional role.

The PCZBA voted to recommend approval of the development-concept plan with conditions that staff and the applicant finalize a tree-replacement plan, that the fence be limited to the extent shown on the submitted plan (with final details to be resolved on the final plan), and that other usual preliminary conditions (utility relocation, stormwater and compliance with village design-review processes) apply. The recommendation moves the project to the Architectural Board of Review and then to the village board for final actions.