U-Haul proposal not knocked out yet in Lake Zurich
While the plan for a U-Haul facility in Lake Zurich's Route 22 corridor has been knocked down, it apparently isn't completely out.
Village board members met behind closed doors for nearly an hour late Monday regarding potential litigation, which was followed by an announcement that Lake Zurich officials are to meet with U-Haul representatives this week regarding the rejected proposal.
"We're trying to be business-friendly, clearly," Mayor Thomas Poynton said after the village board meeting.
U-Haul wants to renovate the building on the northeast corner of Route 22 and Buesching Road and create a retail space inside. The site also would have 1,200 self-storage units, and trucks and trailers available for rent.
On Jan. 4, a U-Haul executive and an attorney asked the village board to reconsider its rejection of a special-use permit the company needed to operate. That move was similar to when the village board agreed to give a second chance to U-Haul in August.
Unlike in August, the board did not reverse its vote so U-Haul could have a third chance to gain approval for its plan. Village Attorney Scott Uhler said the rejection likely meant U-Haul would have to wait two years to return with a proposal, per local ordinance.
But U-Haul resurfaced on Monday night's village board agenda, which included an item for the village board to reconsider its Jan. 4 vote against the special-use permit. After agreeing to reconsider the decision, the village board voted 6-0 to table the issue and not take any action until after U-Haul and Lake Zurich officials meet.
Uhler declined to be specific but said the discussions will be about "something other than denial" for U-Haul.
"We can't really say we're going to do A, B or C," Uhler said. "We're going to have further discussions and see what's possible."
U-Haul's marketing president for the northwest Chicago-area branch, Heather Skelton, declined to comment after the meeting.
Skelton has said U-Haul significantly altered the plan to meet village requirements since the receiving the second chance for approval. For example, she said, U-Haul planned to have rental trucks and trailers displayed outside toward the rear of the property instead of near Route 22, as originally proposed.
Members of the village's advisory planning and zoning commission last month recommended a special-use permit be issued so U-Haul could operate from the 88,000-square-foot building.