Lake Zurich residents oppose gas station on Hackney's property
Lake Zurich residents on Tuesday night shared their concerns about truck traffic and potential environmental harm from a gas station that's part of a preliminary plan to redevelop the Hackney's restaurant property at Rand and Old Rand roads.
Village board members provided the forum for the comments by hosting an informal courtesy review of the plan floated by Bluestone Single Tenant Properties LLC of Chicago.
Bluestone principal Rick Cleas acknowledged the negative opinions about the gas station from many of the 50 residents packed into the village board meeting room. The feedback was meant to assist Bluestone in deciding whether to submit a formal plan and enter the village approval process.
"We have a lot of work to do, admittedly," Claes said.
Hackney's still is serving its signature hamburgers and onion ring loaf in the Lake Zurich location that opened in 1969. That would change if Bluestone buys the 11 acres at the northeast corner of Rand and Old Rand.
Bluestone tentatively wants to construct a gas station and two fast diesel lanes for trucks, possibly operated by Thornton's or Ricky Rockets Fuel Center. Claes said a state-of-the-art car wash and convenience store on roughly 5 acres closest to Rand are other possibilities in what would be the project's first phase.
In the second leg, Bluestone would erect 58 townhouses in 12 buildings on about 6 acres farthest from Rand Road on the east. Bluestone has a tentative contract to buy the land from Hackney's.
Criticism at public comment time mostly was aimed at what some in the crowd called a truck stop. In addition to expressing worries about the gas station's attracting too many trucks and possibly leaking fuel into nearby Lake Zurich, the residents brought up the possibility of declining property values and harm to wildlife.
"I seriously can't imagine a worse use for this space," resident Janice Gannon said.
In November 2015 and amid resident complaints, Chicago-based UrbanStreet Group ended a preliminary plan to demolish the Hackney's building and replace it with a mix of apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail development. Up to 231 apartments were proposed in 2- to 4-story buildings.
Lake Zurich Trustee Jonathan Sprawka, who was joined by his colleagues in raising concerns about the idea of a gas station on the Hackney's site, told the crowd redevelopment will occur there at some point because the family wants to sell the land and close the restaurant. He encouraged residents to contact the Masterson family with ideas for the property.