Feb. 19--After Naperville City Council members agreed with residents earlier this week that a self-storage facility proposed for unincorporated land near the corner of 75th Street and Wehrli Road was inappropriate for the site, developers scaled down the plans in an appearance Thursday night before the county zoning board of appeals.
The DuPage County Board will decide whether the project should proceed. The zoning board is expected to vote March 3rd, then forward its recommendation to the DuPage County Development Committee.
John Ferri is asking for a zoning change, from R-2 single family residential to B-1 local business, and a conditional use permit to allow Extra Space Storage to build a 105,000 square foot building containing 730 storage units. On Thursday, a modified plan was unveiled, showing the facility utilizing a basement level and being two stories rather than three.
"We've gone from 38 feet tall to 28 feet, 4 inches," attorney Tracy Kasson said. "Some of the homes and existing trees in the neighborhood are taller than that."
But neighbors say the building goes beyond the vision of a 2008 development study of the 75th Street corridor that calls for low or medium-density residential, single-story offices and similar uses.
The Naperville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday evening against the proposed zoning change.
"There are multiple reasons why this should not be approved," resident Dean Vance said. "This is a very large industrial-sized building and there are no other industrial-sized buildings in the area. Our concern is that if one goes in, there will be more and there will be damage to our home values."
Resident and longtime Naperville realtor Gary Leavenworth, who chaired the 75th Street Corridor study committee, explained the group's intent.
"We know that change is inevitable, but the bottom line is that this is not what was planned," Leavenworth told the zoning board. "I can tell you from my experience and point of view that this is going to have a detrimental effect on the community. If you put (the storage facility) here, now Pandora's Box is open."
Kasson and several others disputed concerns over traffic, parking and noise, noting a Walgreen's is located next door to the property.)
"I respectfully disagree with the property values going down," Kasson said. "I understand people don't like change and people don't want change. But development is what creates community, and what leads to a balanced community is all types of uses."
Zoning board chairman Bob Kartholl thanked the crowd of almost 60 who filled every chair and stood against the walls for behaving and not turning the meeting into a shouting match.
"I try to consider the legal rights of all of the parties, and I don't purport to be an expert on that," he said after the meeting. "I think the petitioner did a good job of describing all the rezoning standards, and then you have the other side, the property rights of homeowners and whether there's something about this that just doesn't make sense. That's our struggle, to figure that out."
The zoning board plans to vote on a recommendation March 3. The development committee could then take up the matter on March 15, moving the issue to the county board as early as March. 22.
Gary Gibula is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
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