The Naperville City Council Tuesday approved plans for a four-story parking deck next to the Nichols Library despite a steady stream of complaints from nearby residents that the structure would ruin the character of their neighborhood and create a safety hazard for children walking to Naper Elementary School.
The council voted 6-3 to build the $13.5 million, four-story deck with one story below ground and three stories above, and 458 parking spaces.
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Initially, city staff recommended a five-story parking deck. The council opted for four stories to ease the intensity on the residential neighborhood.
But residents still were unhappy with the outcome, preferring that a parking deck be located elsewhere in the city.
“You are talking about a monstrosity on the very edge of the business community,” said resident Pete Walter, who lives two houses from the site.
“I can’t imagine the view I am going to have every morning when I have breakfast,” he said.
The parking design approved includes a plaza area on the northwest corner of the library property at Eagle Street and Jefferson Avenue. The council committed to having heavy landscape around the structure to soften its appearance.
The council voted 5-4 to put off expansion of the Nichols Library until later, rather than while the parking deck is under construction.
A 30,000-square-foot library addition expected to cost $8.5 million was considered, but the council appeared split on expanding the Nichols location versus building another branch on the north side of the city.
Library Board members were disappointed in the council’s decision. Library Director Donna Dziedzic said it would have been the best economic decision to expand the library now. She called the council’s action “the second-best option.”
The Nichols parking deck is expected to begin construction in fall 2007.