Future uncertain for storage business proposed near Naperville
A proposed self-storage center along 75th Street west of Wehrli Road is no longer quite so tall, but its future remains uncertain after a hearing of the DuPage County zoning board of appeals Thursday night.
The board will convene March 3 to make a recommendation to the development committee about whether Extra Space self-storage should be granted three land-use changes to locate at 24W655 and 24W681 75th St.
The proposal is drawing opposition from neighbors who are concerned about the proposed building's “industrial” character.
“It's an industrial-size building,” Hobson Villas resident Dean Vance said. “There are no other industrial-size buildings in this neighborhood.”
Revised proposals call for a two-story, 28-foot-tall building with an architectural parapet reaching a total height of 32 feet. That's a decrease of one story and eight feet from the first plan, which outlined a 36-foot-tall building with a 4-foot-tall parapet.
Tracy Kasson, an attorney with Rathje & Woodward representing Extra Space's proposal, said the building is the length of a football field away from homes to its north in the Hobson Villas subdivision for people 55 and older, it will be lighted only with two outdoor lights for its 17-space parking lot, and it will generate less traffic than other businesses could.
“This is an office building without the parking requirement of an office building,” Kasson said.
Extra Space still is proposing about 730 storage units, but some of them now are designed to be in a basement.
The facility is seeking rezoning to designate the land for local business instead of residential, a conditional use to allow self-storage in a business district and an increase to the floor-area ratio allowed at the site to accommodate the size of the building.
Bob Suren, district manager for Extra Space, said his business wants to add to the two facilities it operates in Naperville.
“We feel there's a need here,” Suren said. “That's why we're wanting to keep growing.”
Neighbors said they fear the storage center would increase noise, decrease safety, hurt their ability to resell, and diminish aesthetics.
“The trees and the beauty mean something to me,” said Hobson Villas resident Lee Konen. “They're not adding any beauty to this thing. It's a cement wall.”
The zoning board's meeting Thursday came after the city of Naperville approved a resolution objecting to the facility, which is on unincorporated land within a mile and a half of its municipal boundaries.
The resolution says the storage use doesn't fit what was planned in a 2008 land-use study, which recommended one-story offices or businesses that house “small-scale neighborhood convenience retail and service uses.”
The city's resolution could come into play when the full county board considers the proposal. It means a supermajority of county board members now will need to approve the project in order for it to become reality.
County board consideration will come after both the zoning board and development committee make their recommendations.