By Igor Studenkov | For the Bugle
The proposal to build a self-storage facility on a long-vacant lot at 7421 Waukegan Road cleared a few legal hurdles as the Niles Planning and Zoning Board voted 6-1 to either approve or recommend approval for several zoning changes necessary to make it possible.
Indianapolis-based Adams French Properties LLC, which owns the lot, seeks to rezone the 7421 lot as well as the three smaller lots at 7431-7443 Waukegan Road from R-3 residential zoning to M manufacturing zoning. This is step is necessary to allow the company to build a self-storage facility on the main lot and a parking lot and a water retention pond on the smaller lot. The company is also looking to add flood mitigation measures to 7021 Jarvis Avenue lot, which it also owns, but that doesn’t require any zoning changes.
The proposal attracted considerable concern from residents of nearby houses and condominiums. During the July 10 Planning & Zoning meeting, many of them said they were worried about the impact of having a self-storage facility in the area, arguing that having something residential on the lot would be better for the neighborhood. They also worried about what would happen if the project failed and the zoning still remained in place, since some other developer would then be able to come in and introduce a number of other manufacturing uses – which the village wouldn’t be able to do anything about.
While the land between Waukegan Road, Jarvis Avenue, Niles Terrace and the alley has been zoned as residential for the past 10 years, it was zoned as manufacturing for many decades before then, when it was the Ideal Uniform laundry facility. After a thorough clean-up due to all the pollutants that accumulated over the decades, the property was rezoned R-3 in hopes of attracting residential development. But according to Niles Senior Planner Bruce Sylvester, that never panned out.
“In the five years I’ve been in village, we had two residential developers look at the lot, and one developer looked to create a daycare,” he said. “And none of those proposals came to fruition.”
Niles Director of Community Development Charles Ostman said that many of the proposals that went before the village in the last 10 years called for more density than he was comfortable with.
Under the current zoning code, self-storage facilities can only be built in lots zoned for manufacturing, and even then, they require Special Use permits. The same is true for standalone parking lots. That is why Adams French Properties LLC wound up making three requests to the Planning & Zoning Board – a request to change of zoning from residential to manufacturing, the request to give Special Use permits and the request for several zoning variances, mostly in order to minimize the gap between the building and the Waukegan Road and Niles Terrace sidewalks.
According to the documents submitted to the village, the building would be 50 feet tall and have four floors. While the top three floors would be completely devoted to storage, the first floor would have an office and retail space. The proposal describes that space as a business incubator, but it didn’t offer any details. the facility’s office hours will be between 9 a.m. – 6 p.m on Monday – Saturday, and customers will be able to access their units between 6 a.m. – 10 p.m. every day of the week.
The proposal also indicated that the company would fix up sidewalks and the alley at the rear and putting in measures to redirect more water toward Waukegan Road sewer and away from the lots further east.
The three requests came before the Planning & Zoning Board on July 10.
Commissioner Morgan Dubiel said that, while he supported the project overall, he did have one concern.
“Once this rezoned as M, and [if] this project would fail, what restrictions would stop it from going to any [manufacturing] use permitted?” he said.
Sylvester said that, so long as the use was permitted and didn’t require a Special Use permit, there was nothing the village could do.
Jim Adams, owner Adams French Properties LLC, admitted that, since his company specializes in storage facilities development, this project was a natural fit.
“We’ve been, for many years, [building] top of the class storage facilities,” he said. “We’d like to say good communities have good facilities.”
Adams argued that the area was underserved, because there was no storage facility of this kind within a 1-3 miles. While he expects 75 percent of the clients to be residents who need a place to store belongings, he argued that it was an important asset to businesses that are looking to get off the ground but may not have office space of their own yet.
“What we have found, in storage, with our commercial users, especially now, is that we have become a place to facilitate [opening a business], if somebody needs a place for inventory, someone in front office to check those deliveries,” Adams said.
When asked about the noise level, he said he didn’t expect it to be much of an issue.
“When you talk about noise, you talk about moving things in and out,” he said. “Short of car or van pulling in or out, it’s not going to make any noise.”
But many residents that showed up were not convinced.
Jeremy Foszcz, who said he lives near the site on Niles Terrace, said he would prefer something residential – earning applause from many other residents in the audience.
“If the project did fail, I’m sure myself and many other residents – many of us would prefer residential,” he said. “We like it quiet, we’d like many families to join us. If this project fails, I wouldn’t want to see another big manufacturing facility. … Personally, I would rather see it as a vacant lot than this. I hope to see condos or townhouse or something go up instead.”
John Shaw, who said he lived on Birchwood Avenue, near the spot where the street dead-ended into Waukegan Road, said he went into the meeting with an open mind. While he felt there was a need for self-storage in Niles, he didn’t think this was the right place for it.
“I don’t believe it belongs in our residential neighborhoods,” he said. “[After I retired] I chose Niles. I chose my house on Birchwood because it had the atmosphere of small town. I love Niles and I hope this doesn’t go through.”
Shaw said that, having lived in Chicago before he retired, he has seen residents use self-storage units to store illegal guns and drugs
“I’m not saying it would happen here, but it could,” he said, adding that, instead, he would suggest them putting it on one of the many manufacturing-zoned lots along Howard Street that are for sale or for lease.
The board wound up voting 6-1 to approve all three requests, with commissioner Ted Karabatsos voting against in all three cases.
Sylvester explained to the Bugle that the vote on variations was final, and it wouldn’t require any further approval. In case of zoning change and the special use permit, the vote is merely to recommend approval. The Village of Niles Board of Trustees is currently scheduled to make the final decision during its July 25 meeting.