The Gurnee Village Board took no formal action at its meeting Monday after hearing from more than two-dozen residents opposed to a truck dealership proposed for development near the HeatherRidge neighborhood.
TransChicago Truck Group received approval from the village’s Planning and Zoning Board on Oct. 12, and its recommendation was sent to the Village Board for final consideration.
The proposed site would be 26 acres along Route. 21, and would consist of an office, a retail area that would be used as a truck dealership, a parts warehouse and a maintenance facility. The company plans to have 50 employees working at the facility when it opens, and hopes to grow the number of employees to 100 within the first year.
At the Oct. 12 meeting, TransChicago Truck Group President Doug Cayce said that the site was chosen for its convenience, and easy access to Interstate 94.
Because of the standing-room-only crowd on hand for Monday’s meeting, the board shuffled the order of the agenda to allow for public comments first, and heard a variety of concerns from residents about the proposed facility.
“We’re going to ask you to vote no on the rezoning,” Gurnee resident Art Stevens said. “We’re going to ask you to continue with the zoning as it currently stands, which is offices. We’re going to ask you to maintain the quality of that area. We’re going to ask you to maintain the type of construction that goes on in that area.
“We’re going to ask you to not put up a commercial location that will cause light pollution and potential other pollution, and is not in character with what that stretch of road indicates,” he said.
The board ultimately took no action, and tentatively agreed to discuss the proposal at its Nov. 28 meeting.
Before the public comment portion of the meeting commenced, both Mayor Tom Hood and the Village’s Chief Legal Officer Bryan Winter discussed how the board would listen to every resident who spoke up at the meeting, but they weren’t able to answer many of the questions that residents posed to the board, or respond to any of the statements made during the public comment.
According to Mayor Tom Hood, representatives from TransChicago Truck Group will be at the Nov. 28 meeting to respond to residents’ concerns and answer questions about the proposal.
Some residents said Monday they were concerned about the number of trucks that would be stopping at the facility each day, and how many would be left there while they wait to be repaired.
“HeatherRidge has a rural feel to it,” Gurnee resident Barbara Stevens said. “Only 40 trucks a day is not a small number. That’s noise pollution, and it disturbs the quality of life.”
Most residents complained about the effect the dealership would have on the small neighborhoods surrounding the proposed facility, including on the surrounding forest preserve.
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“I think this is a good project for Gurnee, but this is the wrong location,” Gurnee resident Marvin Hazel said.