Gas station plan fuels Lake Barrington controversy
Plans for a Speedway gas station in Lake Barrington have fueled anxiety among village residents, who've posted dozens of signs and circulated petitions urging village leaders to reject the proposal.
Opponents of the gas station planned for the intersection of Northwest Highway and Kelsey Road say they worry it will attract criminals, snarl traffic, damage the environment and hurt the village's character.
"It would change the quiet countryside feel that our village was founded on," said Krissy Lohmeyer, who manages the Facebook page for the group STOP Speedway in Lake Barrington.
The plan will be before the Lake Barrington Plan Commission at 7 p.m. Thursday night. It will be the fourth time it has been discussed by the commission since it first came up in August.
Jay Gerak, a Lake Barrington resident since 2001, said the overwhelming majority of residents who've publicly addressed the proposal oppose it.
"They have spoken against this because they think this proposal is way out of scale and scope of our community," he said.
Speedway's current proposal is for a station with 20 gas pumps and a 4,608-square-foot convenience store. The plan also includes custom decorations and the planting of 44 trees and more than 250 shrubs.
Lake Barrington Village Administrator Chris Martin said the proposal has changed significantly after each plan commission meeting. He credits the commission and the residents who attended the meetings for their role in that.
"It is difficult to get these national companies out of the their boxes," Martin said. "(The process) makes sure they get good direction and have a better match to the community."
A village memo on the newest proposal points out changes made in response to community concerns, such as mansard roofs on the store and canopy to give a more residential and contextual appearance.
"It now has a really customized look," Martin said. "I'm not aware of any other Speedway gas station that looks like this one."
Village staff is recommending approval of the plan, provided some minor changes are made, according to a memo.
Lohmeyer said the changes have not been significant enough to satisfy residents' concerns.
"They have not even remotely come close to changing the size of it," Lohmeyer said. "If it still has 20 pumps then it is not getting smaller."
Another issue for some residents is the site's location adjacent to land purchased by Barrington Area Unit District 220 in 2008 for a possible third middle school.
Noel Schumann, a Lake Barrington resident, asked the school board last week if they would have selected the site if a large, 24-hour gas station that sells alcohol and tobacco was nearby.
"If the answer is 'no,' then you need to act and you need to join our coalition and stand up to our trustees and say this is not a good plan," Schumann said.
School board President Brian Battle said the district is aware of the situation and is interested to see how the proposal continues to evolve.
"Our primary interest is making sure that we won't be inhibited in any way in developing a middle school campus there at some point," Battle said.
Superintendent Brian Harris said a representative from the district has attended each plan commission meeting so far and will be there again Thursday night.
Final say over the proposal rests with the Lake Barrington village board. If the plan commission recommends the proposal Thursday night, it could be discussed by the village board as soon as Nov. 5.