THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2006
Car Wash Proposal Denied---Unanimously
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Reporter
Park Ridge residents spoke up, and a proposed car wash disappeared.
In sports terms, it was neighbors over an unwanted business, in a blowout.
In a rare vote against one of its advisory boards, aldermen voted 14-0 Monday night (Oct. 9) to reject a Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation that a hand car wash business be located at 742 Higgins Road. The commission, in a majority but not unanimous vote, suggested that the city's zoning ordinance be amended to allow automobile laundries in a B-2 general commercial district, such as the one on Higgins, as a special use.
When the vote was taken Monday night (Oct. 9), about 30 residents who live in a residential neighborhood immediately north of the proposed site, rose and cheered loudly, many of them expressing obvious surprise at the unanimous verdict. About a half-dozen of them spoke before the vote, objecting to the plan because of traffic, safety, and noise concerns. Their bottom line: they want a new business there, but not this one.
"I spoke with one of them, and before the meeting they said they hoped for at least some negative votes," said Ald. Rich DiPietro. "I think they were surprised that we all agreed."
Many of the residents' homes are located only a few feet from the rear wall of the current building on the site.
The P&Z Commission held hearings on this proposal on June 26, July 24, and Sept. 11. Developer James Kang said he planned to retain the present building, which was used by Budget Rental Car in recent years, and remodel it and upgrade the parking lot. Attorney Carl Edlund said the facility would be a hand washing operation, with no automatic machinery that would generate noise. An area traffic engineering firm said the facility would generate no additional traffic in the residential area nearby.
But residents disagreed.
They mounted an e-mail campaign to all alderman, and it persuaded DiPietro (2nd) to take a personal look at the area himself.
"I moved into a home right behind this site in the 1970s when I first moved to Park Ridge," he said. "I got so many e-mails objecting to this that I went back there recently and rang doorbells to get local sentiment first-hand. I got unanimous feedback opposing this plan."
"I was open to this when I first heard about it, but after I heard the residents complain, I changed my mind," said Ald. Jeff Cox, in whose 7th ward the business would have been located. He said he and fellow aldermen Frank Wsol assured residents they would oppose the project.
"I can't imagine anyone buying my house that sits next to this place, if a car wash is there," said one resident.
"Screening that they propose just wouldn't work," said another.
"Why can't you put a nice office building there, or maybe a flower shop?" asked still another.
Another resident, who said he moved into Park Ridge only a week ago and builds car washes for a living, may have been the most persuasive of all. "I know how these facilities work, and one wouldn't work here," he said. "Please do not do this."
This site, which is located in a commercial strip, or corridor, on Higgins that runs along the bottom edge of Park Ridge, has been vacant for a few years. It is located at the end of a westbound exit ramp off the Kennedy Expressway coming out of Chicago.