Developers looking to bring a self-storage facility to Lake Zurich appear to have village trustees’ approval, but at least one resident expressed concern that the sprawling building could disturb a nearby wetland.
The self-storage facility, which would be located at 120 Tesler Road, met with little opposition from the Lake Zurich Village Board when it was presented at the March 20 meeting. But, one member of the public expressed concern, citing the wetland on the property.
The project, which is just a proposal right now, would have 642 self-contained units and parking spaces for boats, other watercraft and recreational vehicles. The plans did not come before the board for a vote, instead developers wanted to gauge support among trustees and from the community before going ahead with the proposal.
“The building is proposed as a 105,538 square-foot, two-story building. The entire facility would be located on the rear two-thirds of the 12.79-acre property,” said Trustee Dan Bobroski.
He explained that the building would not require any rezoning or special use accommodation. The property where the facility would be located has about 400 feet of frontage on Telser Road and another 160 feet of frontage on Route 22, Doborski said.
“In 2017, the property was rezoned from single-family residential to an industrial zoning district classification. The site would be designed with the appropriate detention areas, while the rear 3.9 acres would remain as open space,” he said.
More Top Picks Brain
This is, in part, because the property contains an approximately 1.6 acre wetland.
Jeff Budgell, of Architects’ Studio in Elmhurst, who represented the developer at the meeting said the whole site would be divided into two pieces, with one sold off. He said the storage facility would be two-stories high and climate controlled, and would maintain at least a 50-foot buffer from the wetlands.
“The access to [the storage facility] is limited to normal business hours,” he said, explaining that meant from
about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Climate controlled storage is in big demand these days for business and personal use.”
He doubted there would be any more than a dozen visitors a day, on any given day.
“On a very busy day would be eight to 10 customer visits,” he said. “This is a facility for storage, not a place to work.”
He also said “no dangerous or flammable items are allowed, by the lease.”
Still, one local resident lamented what she considered an adverse impact to the wetland.
But Community Development Director Sarosh Saher assured her there would be minimal impact to that or the drainage pipe that runs through the property, noting that a business could actually help maintain the drainage and wetland.
“At the end of the day, if they meet the storm water ordinance that we adopted, it will benefit the wetlands property,” Saher said.
Mayor Tom Poynton said “the wetlands aren’t going to disappear.
He suggested the next presentation — to the Planning and Zoning Commission — would offer better architectural drawings of the outside of the building, including an illustration of the stucco surface and the downward facing lighting the developers promise.
Nevertheless, trustees felt the building could be a benefit — especially since the site has already been approved for this use.
Trustee Jon Sprawka said he agreed there is a need for facilities like this and explained he has used one like it.
“It was nice that it was also pest-controlled, so you didn’t have to worry about any rodents getting in,” Sprawka said. “I was surprised that the half a dozen of times we were there, we saw half a dozen people. But the majority of the time it was empty. I think it’s an interesting use of the property.”
Budgell agreed.
“It’s a great neighbor,” he said. “And if it’s an industrial use zoned area, there could be a lot worse going in there.”
Jesse Wright is a freelancer.