Remarks by Andrew Kriz
36 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 2:23
“I'll move to approve the meeting minutes from Monday, August 10th, 2026. Second.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 15:54
“Yeah, just first of all, thank you for going through this with a fine-tooth comb. I really appreciate the work that you guys have done. I do have a question related to the Section C1 on native species unavailability. I have a concern there because previously with our language that we said we had there, it said, you know, if they're unavailable and you have two nurseries, then you can do substitutions. And now it seems like. there really is no guideline for substitutions and how many substitutions you could have. Quite frankly, it looks like you could substitute everything the way this is…”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 17:20
“I guess I just don't understand that piece of it because, you know, the first sentence there is substitutions must be functionally equivalent, can't be sized, right? And it says except two understory trees may be substituted for one. So that really to me is only talking about the size, right? But to me also there's absolutely no, you know, threshold limit on what people can substitute. I would like to see a statement, maybe something that just says substitutions should not make up the great majority of the project plan and maybe leave the discretion to staff.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 18:08
“Well, sure, because then I think there's an easy way for someone who doesn't agree with putting native plants in their landscape plan to just say, I couldn't find them. Couldn't find them?”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 18:21
“Well, I don't know if I read it the same way. Because there's just no limitation on substitutions. We're just allowing any substitution.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 19:08
“I think it possibly does. I'm just a little concerned about that, that someone who just doesn't want to follow what we've put in place can just say, I'm substituting. Everything has been substituted. I think we need to make a clear statement that that's not what the intent of this is. That's just my major concern. I understand what you're saying, Jack. I kind of agree with you to a certain extent. It's clear that the intent Yeah, I think there's a loophole for sure. Okay.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 19:48
“See, I think overall I'm okay with substitutions, right? Like substitutions are fine, but substitutions should be few and far between. And yeah, I mean, we could put a cap on it, right? how much of the 60% is allowed to be substituted, we could do that, right? But really I think what I'd like to see is just some limiting language that shows that substitution should not be, make up the great majority of the final product, right? The final product of the plan. That's the language that I would like to see. Okay, thanks. That's all, that's the only question I had. Otherwise it looks great.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 24:09
“Yeah, just that one loophole comment. And also in that section, I'm also noticing that we are eliminating the may request language. So I'd love to have that back in there because then I think it forces – applicant to work with our staff here in the city and I think that that's a better result than having no oversight whatsoever and someone could just make their own substitutions without you know any oversight from it not that I expect that we will get many of those but I think it's better to have that language in there still so that's only only comment once again I think it's a really nice…”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 34:24
“And on the vendor property, too. Correct. I think that there's a distinction between the two. We're saying very specifically, at least the way I read it, for a food truck, you've got to get it out of there. But wherever you decide to set up shop, but for a food cart, a push cart, as long as it's enclosed, it's okay. It can be on the vendor site is how I read this. As long as it's hidden.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 34:51
“Which I think is very reasonable. If you have allowed access by the person who owns the property and they have a garage for you to rent, cool, great.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 35:01
“Yeah, I don't know. That's the part that I'm getting.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 45:43
“Maybe it's a question for staff in the future. We could put a penalty for folks that come back to us too late.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 47:00
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 49:39
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 55:39
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 56:28
“I move to approve the landscape plan for the daycare facility at 1501 Georgian Park with the condition that the staff recommended requiring plants in the areas between the building and the sidewalk in front of the building. and that the applicant must work with staff to remove any invasive species in the plan.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:20:24
“Yeah, I echo those comments. I used to write legislation and statutory drafting in Illinois, so I really appreciate the detail level work you guys are doing. It's great. A couple questions. So I think you said in the timeline there's going to be like a workshop in early next year. What does that look like out of curiosity? What is that process?”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:21:05
“And you like to do it jointly with us and the city council.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:21:22
“Not really. So we're thinking about like a whole day type of thing or a whole afternoon? Just out of curiosity.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:21:59
“Got it, got it. You see how many, how substantive the changes are. And then there was a slide that you had about the comprehensive plan and making updates based upon the comprehensive plan. Yes. I just have a quick question about that. So does this look like when there's a policy statement or some sort of requirement that exists in the comprehensive plan that doesn't necessarily exist in our ordinances? then what you're saying that you do here is you actually suggest an ordinance to be created or a requirement to be created and written so that we have consistency, I guess, amongst all of our…”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:23:44
“That's great, yeah. And then last thing, just to give you some feedback on the what should you know slide. Yes. You know, in our city, we have a lot of overlay districts, and that can be quite confusing, even for us. I mean, mostly for us, probably, and for staff. From my perspective, it would be really cool if we could put something together, like a table or something, that kind of very clearly outlines the differences between those. You may already be working on that, but that would be really interesting for me.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:24:23
“Yeah, so the requirements of the overlay district. So if you're in the overlay district in Crosstown versus the overlay district over by the avenue, let's put them side by side. I think that would be really kind of neat as a tool for us and for folks that are coming into the city and looking to do development or redevelopment. Okay. Just an idea, because it's not always super clear. Yeah.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:27:22
“That's some sort of guide. It sounds like you guys are doing these kinds of charts all the time, which is awesome. I love really seeing that. And to help organize this material, from my perspective, it might be nice to have no overlay district, what are the requirements? Then overlay one, overlay two, overlay three, and we just have it all in one place potentially.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 1:28:35
“Gosh, that's a good question. I mean, it would be cool to have both, right? I mean, from our perspective, you know, because we look at these things all the time. Sure.”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026
- Play at 2:00:12
“So I just echo what my colleagues have said. They're positive statements. I look forward to this for my own purposes. I think I look forward to this for staff. I know it's just a nightmare sometimes to deal with some of this stuff, so I think this is going to be great for them. Yeah, and I look forward also to getting those pizza slice bites of the stuff that comes out so that we can look through it and give feedback. I think that's going to be a really good process and And my only request there is when we get close to that, let's kind of map out what that looks like. What does success look…”
Planning Commission · Aug 24, 2026