Lake Zurich personal trainer wants to stay in industrial park

A Lake Zurich advisory panel recommends letting a personal trainer continue operating in an industrial park if the business can strike an agreement with the private property association governing the area.

Village officials said Lisa LaManna's MaxFitness recently was discovered operating in an industrial condominium on Rose Road without required special-use and occupancy permits. Her personal training business needs special approval because the area has an industrial zoning classification.

Planning and zoning commission members agreed MaxFitness should receive the permit to remain in the Rose Road space it's occupied for about a year, if it obtains the necessary permission from the privately controlled Lake Zurich Corporate Park Owners Association.

Association covenants say a business needs its authorization before seeking a special-use permit from the village if it cannot otherwise operate in the industrial park. The commission's recommendation will go to the village board, which has the final say on issues.

John Maas, president of Screenflex Portable Partitions Inc., heads the association that needs to sign off on MaxFitness. He said there are several places in Lake Zurich better suited for LaManna's business.

"I'm all about trucks in the industrial park," Maas said. "That's the word, industrial. That's what it kind of signifies, is industrial. It doesn't mean retail sales or exercise stuff and such."

LaManna said she hopes everything works out with the association so she can stay in the Rose Road building, which is across the street from automotive industry parts manufacturer Termax Corp. She said she was not aware there was an association for the industrial park when she signed her lease.

"If things were done out of order, then that was a mistake," she told the planning and zoning commission.

LaManna, a certified personal trainer and distributor of Isagenix dietary supplements and personal care products, said she works solo at MaxFitness. She consults with clients and designs programs to improve their overall health through exercise and nutrition.

Bonnie Conti, owner of Avalon Salon and Day Spa at Deer Park Town Center, and Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dale Perrin spoke in support of LaManna at last week's public hearing. Conti, past president of the chamber board, said she's a MaxFitness client and that the business is clean and well run.

"As a small-business owner myself who supports women in small business, I would just like to say that I am very proud of Lisa LaManna being in our community and all of the great work she's done," Conti said.