Lake Zurich leaders approved a site design for Block A that will include nearly 20 townhomes and a restaurant despite parking concerns from the neighbors and a rejection from the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
The property sits between Mionsk Drive and Lake Street along Main Street, and until this year, it was owned by the town. It’s sat vacant for about two decades. In that time, Mayor Tom Poynton said, at the village board meeting Sept. 15, he’s had 15 proposals cross his desk — none of them worked.
The 1.7-acre property is across from the lake, which presents an attraction. Still, its high water table means basements are out of the question, and its position between residential and commercial areas means the streets are already crowded, so street parking isn’t plentiful. On-site parking is limited by the property size.
Still, Poynton and everyone else on the board voted for the Huron Group’s proposal. The 19 townhomes will be contained in five three-story units, and the commercial space will be two stories and include a restaurant. The homes will have garages, but the two-story retail space will have only 23 permanent spaces on-site, causing area residents to worry. While only 23 spaces can fit the site, Lake Zurich ordinances allow for developments to include off-site parking within 500 feet. The Huron Group has told city leaders it is discussing options with area property owners.
Derek Goodman, a spokesperson for the Huron Group, said they’ve been working with city employees for months, nailing down development details.
“The site is very challenging for a typical site to be building on,” he told the board. He noted the narrow streets, the high water table, and parking concerns. However, he said he’s satisfied that after months of planning, he can meet all the town’s requirements.
“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of time with public works, the engineer, the broader staff, working to come up with this place that we feel is well-suited for the site,” he said.
In a document packet published with the meeting, city staff agreed with the developer and disagreed with the planning and zoning commission.
“Staff continues to find that the development concept plan meets the standards for (planned unit developments) and the overall goals, aspirations of the recently adopted Comprehensive Plan for this property and the Main Street area, and recommends approval of the development concept plan,” the packet reported.
But even in the face of staff recommendations, a handful of residents continued to protest, mostly over parking, at the village hall meeting.
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Chris Stachowiak begged the board to reject the plan.
“You guys need to take a real look at this,” he said. “From what I have read, the village staff, they seem to want to push this in no matter what, regardless of the village planning commission voting no,” he said, before the board voted. “Please, do your due diligence. Think about the things some of the other people have said and why the village planning commission voted it down. They did vote it down for a reason.”
In the end, the board voted unanimously to allow the development.
Poynton reminded the board it might be years before they had another chance to develop the lot and bring it back onto the tax rolls.
“This project, I’m not going to say it’s our last best chance,” he said, recalling the 15 projects the board rejected over the years. “Those proposals, some of them looked halfway decent. Some of them wanted the property for free, they wanted to abate the taxes and cost us more money and we would have never got from out from underneath that.”
He also seemed utterly unmoved by parking concerns.
“I’ve lived here since 1989, and I have never ever, not once, had an issue with finding a parking spot in Lake Zurich’s main street or downtown area, ever.”
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.