Winnetka’s village council has rejected a subdivision request from two Indian Hill property owners, deeming on a split vote that cutting their roughly 2-acre property into two smaller lots would violate village zoning and subdivision rules, and impose on the property’s neighbors.
The 4-2 council decision on Sept. 6 means Dan and Debra Gill can’t cut their 85,290-square-foot property at 5 Indian Hill Road into two smaller lots of 41,500 and 43,789 square feet.
If the council had approved the requests, one would have allowed the newly-created east property to have a shallower depth than Winnetka normally permits. Approving the split would also have resulted in the west lot being oriented one way, and the east lot another way. That would mean each lot would have a side yard abutting a neighboring property’s rear yard, something the village doesn’t normally allow.
In July, council members heard from the Gills’ unhappy neighbors, who said a subdivision could presage development of a second large home on the east parcel, increase residential density in the area, and cut their ability to enjoy their own properties. Trustees then put off a decision, telling the Gills to meet with neighbors to see if the two sides could reach a compromise.
At the latest council session, Gill attorney Hal Francke said an Aug. 24 attempt to do so proved unsuccessful, although his clients offered to move the subdivision border even further to the east, to cut that lot’s size and ensure a smaller size for any house that might be built on it.
Francke said the need for most of the Gills’ zoning requests lay in the unusual condition of the present lot, in which its front yard is considered to be off Indian Hill Road, rather than nearby Church Road, which is where an existing property driveway exits: “If the village would view the front yard of this property as Church, you wouldn’t have the side yard-rear yard issue or the depth issue.”
The Gills’ real estate agent, Joanne Hudson, told trustees that a changing real estate market forced the couple to drop their price for 5 Indian Hill from $7.25 million in 2012 to $4.29 million in February 2016.
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“I think what we’re really talking about in this situation is about minimizing loss,” Hudson said.
Several neighbors who spoke against the case in July did so again on Sept. 6. Indian Hill resident Dana Connell said he thought that it was clear that the Gills’ purpose in asking to subdivide their property “was to maximize the return on their property.
“There is no other reason, and with all due respect, that is not a good reason to grant a variance,” Connell said. He also noted that both Winnetka’s plan commission and zoning board of appeals turned down the Gills’ requests.
The plan commission met last October and again in January to consider the subdivision changes before rejecting them. The zoning board of appeals met in March, and rejected the Gills’ request for the zoning variances that accompanied the subdivision proposal.
Trustees Kristin Ziv and Chris Rintz voted against rejecting the requests. Ziv said the move wouldn’t change the neighborhood’s nature, and called the current large lot “kind of a big white elephant in that area.”
Rintz said the village council has more latitude in making decisions than either the plan commission or the zoning board, and “the reason things end up here is that we’re supposed to exercise common sense.” He said the official orientation of the existing property made no sense, and caused practical difficulties for the Gills.
But Trustee William Krucks, who once served on both recommending boards, said “quite frankly, our zoning ordinance is pretty clear on its face. I also think our subdivision ordinance is clear.” He didn’t want decisions to be made on the basis of economics, he said, adding that more than 200 Winnetka properties are up for sale and many “have been for sale for years.”
Krucks and Trustees Scott Myers, Penny Lanphier and Andrew Cripe voted to deny the request.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy