The Lake Bluff Village Board on Nov. 10 approved a tentative plat that would reconfigure two undersized lots at 1750 and 1776 Shore Acre Drive, but it amended the draft restrictions to defer any final cap on the home's total square footage to the Joint Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals (PCZBA) and a future final-plat approval.

Attorney Warren Silver, representing both owners, told trustees the reconfiguration would set the house at 1750 further back from the private Shore Acres Drive and help the property fit better with the neighborhood. Silver said the house at 1776 had already been demolished and that 1750 was storm-damaged and likely to be removed. He asked the board to remove a 3,783-square-foot floor-area cap that had been included in the tentative plat, arguing that the number was erroneous and would prevent reasonable future uses of an unfinished attic.

Trustees pressed staff and the applicant on three conflicting figures that had been cited during the PCZBA review: about 3,783 square feet, roughly 4,200 square feet if certain private-street area were counted, and a larger 6,300-square-foot figure calculated by applying the country-estates FAR formula to the amended lot size. "I don't think you can have it both ways," Trustee Susan (speaker 4) said, arguing that the board should not permit a tiny lot while granting the larger FAR benefits of a country-estates calculation.

Mike Croke, the building code supervisor, explained that Lake Bluff's code treats FAR as a function of lot size and that, unusually, private-street area has in practice been counted in lot area in the village. The board directed staff to develop a clear, reasoned calculation for FAR and recommended tying any governor on building size to a measurable baseline rather than leaving an arbitrary square-footage cap in place.

To balance the competing concerns, trustees approved amended resolution language to read that "the total square footage for the proposed building to be constructed on the 1750 property may not exceed the number recommended by the PCZBA and approved by the village board as part of final plat approval." The motion passed by voice vote; the matter will return to staff and the PCZBA for analysis and a final recommendation.

The board made clear it expects staff and PCZBA to calculate allowable floor area using consistent assumptions, and it encouraged a staff-led, deliberative process rather than negotiating the detail on the record at a single PCZBA meeting. No public comment was received at the meeting on the item.

Next steps: staff will produce FAR calculations and proposed plat conditions for PCZBA review; the PCZBA's recommendation and the village board's final-plat approval will establish the final allowable square footage.