Plans to allow Carvana to build a 13-story vertical car lot in Skokie are moving ahead despite backlash from some residents who say the building is not a good fit for the area.
The Skokie Plan Commission during a Nov. 18 meeting voted 5-2 in favor of giving online retailer Carvana the zoning relief it was seeking to build the 135-foot-tall vertical lot near a Cook County forest preserve and condo towers in the 9800 block of Woods Drive.
The plan is schedule to go before the Skokie Village Board for a final vote in the coming weeks.
“Anyone who bought or rented over the last 15 years in our community had no reasonable expectation that … all of the sudden we’d have an auto dealership next door,” said Asher Bronfeld, president of a condo building in the 9700 block of Woods Drive. “And that’s an important change.”
More than a dozen people opposed to giving Carvana zoning relief turned out for the Nov. 18 meeting. Many talked about the “drastic negative impacts” the building could have on the area. They said they are concerned that light from building will flood the area at night and vehicle delivery trucks going to and from the building will create a noise nuisance, among other issues.
Carvana representatives on Nov. 18 told the Plan Commission that the company has taken steps to address residents’ concerns.
One commissioner noted that what could be built on the site within current zoning regulations “could be much more extreme.”
“It’s a real slap,” Skokie resident Minna Einhorn said of the vote. “It’s like they don’t give a hoot about what’s going on.”
The proposed Skokie building will have a footprint of about 7,960 square feet with about 52% of that space made up of office space, a welcome center, restrooms, storage, a conference room and employee spaces, according to village documents. The rest of the footprint includes the base of the vending machine tower, two vehicle delivery bays and a vehicle detail prep area.
The tower would be a glass and steel “parking and exhibition structure” that uses an automated storage and retrieval system that moves cars in an out of the tower. Vehicles are stacked in the vertical structure until they are retrieved for the customer, according to village documents.
In order for Carvana to build on the site, which is currently a parking lot, the Village Board must accept the Plan Commission’s recommendation and allow the company to build a car dealership in what is currently zoned as an office research district, village staff said. The company is also seeking zoning approval to allow it to display more signage than is currently permitted.
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Bronfeld said residents are getting ready to take their cause to the Skokie Village Board.
“We’re going to put in a maximum effort to see if we can get a change,” Bronfeld said. “We’ll do our best. Carvanas have been rejected by other communities and hopefully we’re one of them. We feel that this is pretty major. It’s a big deal and it should have been treated that way.”
According to village officials, Carvana’s impact study estimated the company would create $8 million in tax revenue over its first eight years.
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter.