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U-Haul still on hold in Lake Zurich

Lake Zurich planning and zoning commission members say they want more information before they make a recommendation on a U-Haul storage and truck rental business proposed for Route 22 and Buesching Road.

U-Haul would renovate an 88,000-square-foot building at the northeast corner of the intersection. The proposal is for a retail showroom in the redone structure and renting self-storage units, trucks and trailers on the site.

Planning and zoning commission members will resume a public hearing on the U-Haul plan Wednesday, July 15. Commission members agreed on June 17 the company needs to provide more details about the proposal before they issue a positive or negative recommendation to the Lake Zurich village board, which has final say on issues.

Concerns about the U-Haul plan were raised by commission members, residents and others at the last meeting. The potential problems they cited included landscaping, lighting spilling into residential neighborhoods and the proposed parking of equipment near Route 22 so passers-by can see what U-Haul has to offer.

Planning and zoning commission member Tina Guziec said the request for more information from U-Haul does not mean the proposal for the roughly 9-acre site would not be accepted by the advisory panel.

"If U-Haul is coming to the table and is telling us they've done some kind of research, that (it) makes sense for them and they're willing to invest their money in it, it probably makes sense," Guziec said. "But I think that there's still an awful lot of outstanding concerns."

Heather Skelton, marketing president for U-Haul's northwest Chicago area branch, said the company is willing to work through the outstanding issues. She also said U-Haul risks losing the property if it seeks another extension on a purchase contract.

U-Haul needs a special-use permit to operate on the property currently designated for industrial use. Skelton said the company intends to make exterior building upgrades and install more landscaping.

Attorney Calvin Bernstein, who represents property owner Chicago Title Land Trust Co., said the U-Haul proposal would provide some retail use on the site that village officials want.

"This has been an over 10-year process to try to market and sell this building," Bernstein said. "And is has been very frustrating, because we've been told a lot of different things on what the (village) would like on that property."

U-Haul proposal in Lake Zurich triggers questions about look of Rt. 22 corridor

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