Wheaton officials approve new downtown salon despite objections

Wheaton officials on Monday cleared the way for a new salon downtown against the recommendation of the city's planning and zoning board and despite objections of several other salons in town.

But the decision to approve a change to zoning codes to allow an Aveda salon did not come easy.

Before the approval, owners Roy and Karen Millonzi had to watch as the city council debated the government's role in nurturing and blocking competition among businesses. Additionally, after first rejecting the code change, council members considered a special-use permit that would have meant another appointment with the planning and zoning board for the Millonzis.

But Roy Millonzi told the council that time was of the essence because Aveda is a national product that wanted to move into the Wheaton market as soon as possible.

“I understand the dilemma of this decision-making process and we have sat through two meetings and this discussion,” said Millonzi, who also owns an Aveda salon in Glen Ellyn. “But there is a time factor where we have to move on and get this business plan moving.”

Under a procedural move that allows someone on the prevailing side to re-introduce a failed motion, Wheaton Mayor Mike Gresk did so and the motion passed. Roy Millonzi said the salon could open in as little as four to six months.

Although the final motion passed unanimously, it did not come before substantial debate.

Councilman Todd Scalzo proposed the special-use permit because he said it would protect the original intent of the 1998 ordinance that prohibited salons in C-2 districts.

“It was to bring diversity of uses to downtown Wheaton,” he said.

But Councilman Phil Suess said the vacant lots downtown mean a different approach may be needed and that the ordinance amounts to nothing more than the city deciding which businesses succeed.

“The government needs to get out of the business of making decisions on the winners and losers with respect to people's utilization of their properties,” he said. “I have a hard time accepting the fact that the policies we have had in the past have been successful.”

However, Scalzo said the policies have not necessarily been a failure and pointed to struggling downtowns everywhere as evidence.

Millonzi said the specific location of the salon is still undetermined but that getting the variance would allow them to continue to look at some properties they were interested in.

“We were stuck in neutral until we knew if we could move forward or not,” said Randy Jostes, an architect who attended the meeting with the Millonzis.

Leading into the planning and zoning board meetings, a number of salon owners sent nearly identical letters to the board objecting to the Aveda salon. After the board reconsidered its decision, someone identifying himself as a representative of Zazu Hair Salon and Day Spa in Wheaton charged the council with an ethical breach for going against the planning and zoning board. He also asked if the city had a “conflict of interest” in approving the variance because it stood to gain financially from filling an empty lot.