Neighbors rally against proposed gas station near Lombard
A group of neighbors concerned about noise, traffic, air quality and other issues is gearing up to oppose a proposed gas station, convenience store and car wash near Lombard.
DuPage County's zoning board of appeals is reviewing a request from Buck's Inc. to build the business on the south side of Roosevelt Road, between Wisconsin and Addison avenues.
A public hearing that started last month is scheduled to resume Thursday, but officials say no action will be taken and it will be continued until March 2.
Meanwhile, neighbors have started a website, Facebook page and an email newsletter to convince county leaders to reject the plan.
"We have no opposition to Bucky's as a business," neighbor Abdul Baseer Mohammed said Tuesday. "It's just that they are encroaching so far into our neighborhood that it's going to cause issues with security and traffic. We are afraid that it's going to destroy the peacefulness that we have in our neighborhood."
A representative from Buck's Inc. declined to comment.
Under its proposal, the company wants to purchase the building containing the House of Rattan furniture store at 18W375 Roosevelt along with a right-of-way and several residential lots south of the store. One of the residential lots has an abandoned house while the others are vacant, officials said.
If its plan is approved, Buck's Inc. will clear the parcels and then merge them to build a station with 10 gas pumps, a 7,185-square-foot Bucky's Express convenience store, and a 2,315-square-foot car wash. A detention pond and fence is planned for the far southern part of the combined site.
Residents, however, say the project would disrupt and potentially harm their neighborhood.
"If they were just on Roosevelt, that would be OK," Mohammed said. "But they're encroaching toward (houses). That's a problem."
Residents claim property values would drop for houses close to the gas station. They also say more cars and trucks and deliveries would increase noise. In addition, they fear the gas station would draw more traffic to and through the neighborhood.
"The area itself is not conducive to increased traffic flow," resident David Jackson said. He said the neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks while many of the families have small children.
Neighbors also fear the gas station and convenience store would attract so many cars and trucks that toxic air pollutants would increase.
The pollutants, they argue, could pose a health risk for children in the neighborhood.
"There's a known correlation between benzene and the impact that it has on children's lives," Jackson said.
Since December, the neighbors have collected 872 signatures on paper and online petitions. They've also reached out to Lombard, York Township and county elected officials. Last week, the group submitted 282 pages of documents to the zoning board.
"We are very aware that this is just the first step in a long, protracted argument," Jackson said.
DuPage's zoning board eventually will recommend whether a conditional-use permit should be granted for the project. The panel also will weigh in on whether parcels should be rezoned.
The project then will be reviewed by the DuPage County Board's development committee, which will make its own recommendation. It will be up to the full county board to make the final decision.