La Grange Park will be getting an Aldi store in the very near future.
The Village Board approved three measures to finalize the deal for what will be one of the largest of the discount grocer’s stores at 333 N. La Grange Rd.
“I think this is a great proposal,” Village President Dr. James Discipio said after the regular Board meeting. “I’m glad Aldi is going to fill such a large parcel. It will be available for the whole community.”
First, the Board unanimously approved a letter of agreement between property owner Woodmen of the World Life Insurance, the Village, and the neighboring Homestead Apartments to reimburse Homestead for perimeter landscaping along the boundary between Homestead and the Village Market, where the Aldi will be.
The Village and Woodmen will split the $24,000 for the landscaping evenly.
The letter also requires that Aldi guarantee no deliveries will be made between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and that the project will meet all Village lighting requirements.
The second measure passed was a series of variations requested by Aldi, including increases in the height of lighting, and reductions in the amount of ground floor transparency and landscaping required.
When the proposal first came to the Planning and Zoning Commission Feb. 21, concerns about safety were expressed by other neighbors, including Plymouth Place Senior Living, which has 350 residents, and is currently adding an additional 59 villas.
Plymouth Place CEO Jay Biere then submitted a letter to the Commission outlining his concerns.
Attorney Greg Andre, representing Homestead, also expressed concern for safety and the noise that the proposal would mean with truck traffic only 36 feet from residences.
“We don’t oppose an Aldi, but it’s simply too big for this site,” he said.
Fear of inadequate parking from an Aldi, a popular stop for people seeking low cost groceries, has been a consistent topic.
In addition to the proposed Aldi, the site includes a Dollar Tree, the Dinner Club and other businesses. Also included under common ownership is the empty medical building at 321 N. La Grange Rd.
The total number of parking spaces provided by the contiguous sites is 225. The proposed Aldi would cut that number to 176, but that would still be above the 143 spaces required by code.
But that didn’t ease the fears of some at the Board meeting Tuesday night, which was conducted remotely because of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s extending the COVID-19 guidelines until the end of the month.
Trustee Karen Koncel said that she was “very concerned about the lack of parking,” and that felt that “it would be an undue burden on Plymouth Place” before voting against the variations, making the vote 3 to 1.
Biere agreed with Koncel, saying that he wasn’t against the redevelopment of the site, but stressed that the lack of parking spots is still concerning.
“This will be an issue for us,” he said.
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But shortly before the vote on the variations, Village Attorney Cathleen Keating pointed out that the Aldi proposal met all Village requirements and even “exceeds requirements by 33 spaces.”
Trustees Sheehan and Koncel raised the possibility that, with Trustees Zaura, Lautner, and Stewart absent, it might be wise to postpone the vote.
But Discipio disagreed, saying that “all the trustees have seen this material numerous times.”
In the end, Trustees Sheehan and Silva also expressed some concern about parking, Silva saying it “was a bit of a concern,” but joined Discipio in voting to approve the measure.
The third item on the agenda concerned financial incentives for the development.
The agreement stipulates that the Aldi’s estimated investment of $5,222,000 has to be proven to the Village by submitting paid invoices, receipts and other documentation.
At that point, Aldi shall receive, on an annual basis, 75 % of the increase in property tax for the property (Tax Increment, or TIF), and 75 % of the Village Business Development tax (BDD).
Other conditions are that the project has to be completed by December 31, 2024. And the approved incentive is not to exceed $800,000, or 15.3 %, and terminates at the end of 2040.
Koncel was the lone dissenting vote on the financial incentive, noting that the incentive was “a lot of money,” and that she still had safety and parking concerns.
“I cannot support it in good conscience,” she said.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.