July
27, 1998
An open letter to the Trustees of the Village of Lisle:
Re: Meijer Plan
Just before midnight on July 9, 1998, I went on record at the public
hearing, contending that the Meijer plan is illegal in the Village of
Lisle because it does not conform to any permitted use in the Village of
Lisle Zoning Ordinance and it does not conform to the standards of a
planned unit development as required by the ordinance. To underscore and
emphasize my contention, I ask you to review the Zoning Ordinance for
yourselves and then consider and weigh the evidence and testimony on the
record. I believe that the Village Board is legally precluded from
allowing the Meijer plan to go forward.
Title 5, Chapter 14, Section 3 of the Village of Lisle Zoning Ordinance
says: "A planned unit development may be authorized as a special
use in any of the zoning districts of this Title, provided that it
fulfills the intentions of the following standards: " (emphasis
added)
Subsection (B), SIZE says: "The site of the planned unit
development must be under single ownership and/or unified
control....." It is the intent of Meijer to sell off the outlots
along Maple Avenue and Lot 6 and thereby relinquish any control over the
uses of those lots. Meijer acknowledges that they have only vague ideas
about the appropriate uses of these other lots. Certainly, once they are
sold, any semblance of "unified control" would be absent.
Green Trails is a residential planned unit development and remains under
unified control by way of the Green Trails Improvement Association in
accordance with the Zoning Ordinance. No such unified control is planned
by Meijer.
Subsection ©, COMPATIBILITY says: "The uses permitted in a planned
unit development
must be of a type and so located as to exercise no undue detrimental
influence upon
surrounding properties." The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the
Meijer plan does not meet this standard. An objective real estate
appraiser from Lake County testified that property values in the
immediate area would diminish by at least 15%. That alone is reason
enough to reject the Meijer plan, however, the residents of the Village
are on record with volumes of intelligent and articulate testimony as to
how the quality of life and the safety of the citizens, especially
children, in the Village would be detrimentally influenced by the Meijer
project.
Subsection (D), NEED says: "The planned unit development must be of
a character and
contain such uses that are clearly needed in the service area of the
proposed project." There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that
there is any need, whatsoever, for a project like the Meijer plan
"in the service area of the proposed project." The testimony
from Meijer is that a Meijer store requires a service area of at least a
population of 75,000 to be successful. The Village of Lisle has a
population of less than 21,000. Clearly, there is no need for a retailer
designed to serve at least 75,000 anywhere in a community of less than
21,000.
Subsection (H), TRAFFIC says: "Adequate provisions shall be made to
provide ingress and egress so designed as to minimize traffic congestion
in the public streets." Though Meijer has made provision for
ingress and egress, their own evidence and testimony indicates that
there would absolutely be a dramatic increase in "traffic
congestion in the public streets," including residential streets.
There is no question that a retailer that must attract customers from a
population of a least 75,000 would attract tremendous additional traffic
to an already congested area. Maple Avenue is already congested and any
of the Meijer traffic approaching from the south would take Abbeywood to
Benedictine Parkway from either College Road or Naper Boulevard, greatly
increasing the traffic volume on predominantly residential streets. The
other arteries leading to the site would all suffer from increased
traffic volume and congestion.
Please review Chapters 8, 9 and 10 of the Zoning Ordinance, where you
will find descriptions of a B-1 Neighborhood Business District, B-2
Community Business District and B-3 Central Business District with
statements about the purpose of each and examples of permitted uses. Pay
particular attention to Chapter 9, the B-2 Community Business District,
which is the zoning sought by Meijer and examine the Village Zoning Map
to see examples of current B-2 zoning in the Village.
You will find that the magnitude and character of the Meijer plan does
not conform to the purpose of a B-2 Community Business District and is
far beyond anything permitted or envisioned by the ordinance.
Title 5, Chapter 9, Section 1 of the Zoning Ordinance says that the
purpose of a B-2 District is "to permit and to encourage the
establishment of commercial shopping centers which offer a wide variety
of consumer goods and services. It is intended that the Community
Business District serve a larger population and larger area than the B-1
District (B-1 is the immediate neighborhood that is within a reasonable
walking distance. There are no B-1 districts in the Village, currently)
and, when located along major highways and thoroughfares, accommodate
primarily automotive-oriented establishments."
Section 2 goes on to list examples of permitted uses, special and
accessory uses, and says that "any of the following permitted,
special or accessory uses, when situated on a parcel of five acres or
more, or part of one development of five acres or more, shall be
permitted only as a planned unit development and in accordance with
Chapter 14 of this Title." Permitted uses include "Retail
Stores: Specialty shops such as jewelry stores, shoe stores, dry goods
or notion stores or florist shop. Personal Services and Business
Services: Post Offices.... Restaurants....Processing: Bakery, catering
establishment, laundry or dyeing and cleaning works, employing not more
than five persons.
Special uses in a B-2 District include Commercial Recreation, Animal
Hospitals, Automotive Services, Gasoline service stations, but not
including repair and/or painting or the storage and/or rental of cars,
trucks or trailers provided that: 5-9-2-(B)-4-(b) (6) "The Village
corporate authorities specifically find that such use will not adversely
impact, or cause unnecessary hardship to adjacent property owners.
Further, the corporate authorities shall find that such use shall not
cause substantial injury to the value of other property in the
community."
Pay particular attention to Section 3, Subsection © of Chapter 9 on B-2
Community Business Districts; Nonobjectionable Uses: "No process or
equipment shall be employed or goods sold which are objectionable by
reason of odor, dust, smoke, cinders, gas, fumes, noise, vibration,
radiation, refuse matter or water-carried wastes." The mere process
of delivering merchandise to and removing waste from a retail
establishment of this size and magnitude would be objectionable by these
standards.
Current examples of B-2 Community Business Districts in the Village
include Green Trails Center, College Square, Jewel/Osco, Doc’s Drugs,
the north and south sides of Ogden Avenue and the auto dealerships on
Route 53 just south of Warrenville Road. The magnitude of the proposed
Meijer project is far beyond any of the businesses found elsewhere in
the Village of Lisle and is wholly inconsistent with any other land
usage in the Village.
Based on all of the evidence of record, no reasonable person could
conclude that the Meijer plan should or could be allowed. The Meijer
plan would be violative of the Village of Lisle Zoning Ordinance and
would cause irreparable and permanent harm to the residents and the
property in the Village of Lisle. Your job as a Village trustee is much
simpler than you may have thought. You simply cannot legally approve the
Meijer project. Thank you for your
consideration.
Sincerely yours,
Thomas F. Fezzey
Eleven year resident of the Village of Lisle.
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