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After months of debate, Life Time Fitness coming to Lake Zurich

Life Time Fitness is coming to Lake Zurich.

The village board voted unanimously in favor of the plan to build a two-story luxury fitness center at the old Hackney's site.

“I look at this project as a total home run for the community,” village Trustee John Shaw said, reading from a prepared statement. “It will be a driver to bring new business to the community.”

Shaw was one of five trustees to vote in favor. Mayor Thomas Poynton, who did not have a vote, said he supported the project as well.

“I'm proud of the staff, I'm proud of this board, I'm proud of the residents who put their two cents in on this,” Poynton said. “It's been a fantastic exercise in public comment.”

The plan was first presented to the village board in August 2017 as a three-story building near the center of the 10.7-acre property, much closer to nearby residents' homes. The project drew the ire of neighbors who feared it would hurt their property values.

They made their feelings known, showing up in big numbers at public meetings.

The typical village meeting associated with the Life Time proposal featured hours of public comment. But Monday night public comment on the Life Time project lasted only about 13 minutes.

“I'd like to thank everyone who had input on this issue, both the for and against,” Poynton said, reading from a prepared statement. “Except for a couple of instances, it was by and large an excellent representation of the civil resident engagement and input that we up here continue to espouse and encourage.”

Poynton spoke for around 10 minutes before the board voted. He said he skipped some of his prepared remarks that were responses to some of the more negative comments from the community to “save us all some grief.”

After months of hearing from the residents, it was finally the time for the trustees to express their opinions, and everything they said was positive.

Trustee Jonathan Sprawka, who could not attend the meeting, submitted a letter read by Poynton.

“The revised proposal before the board on behalf of the community considers those most impacted by the development and turns a potential eyesore on a prominent parcel into a win for our community,” Sprawka's letter read.

Trustee Greg Weider said for him the question of whether to vote for or against the proposal came down to whether the village moves forward or stands still. He said he believes Life Time will be an asset to the village.

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