Arlington Heights OKs gas station, but not 24 hours a day

Arlington Heights trustees told the buyer of a gas station Monday that his business can't become a 24-hour operation, after neighbors said those extended hours would affect their quality of life.

Instead, board members agreed to restrict hours of the gas station at 1706 W. Northwest Hwy. to 5 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.

Stephen Chacko, the buyer of the former Marathon gas station at 1706 W. Northwest Highway, said he would have been willing to close at 2 a.m. even though being open 24 hours would help his bottom line, after investing $1 million in upgrades to the property.

Now he'll have to go back to officials at BP - the proposed new gas station - to see if they'll be amenable to the village-approved hours.

Residents who live near the proposed gas station and convenience store submitted a petition to the village earlier this month opposing a 24-hour operation.

Diane DiGiovanni, who lives on nearby Race Avenue - a block of single-family homes off Northwest Highway - said she thinks Chacko could still "make a good living" with limited hours.

"It shouldn't matter how much money is being spent," she said at Monday night's village board meeting. "There should be a balance between the rights of a business and the rights of the residents."

Village officials say there are 10 other gas stations near homes throughout town, but only two of them operate 24 hours.

Chacko compared his new gas station to the Marathon at 102 W. Northwest Hwy., across the street from condominiums.

Trustee John Scaletta said the difference is Chacko's gas station is near single-family homes.

"I'm comfortable with 5 a.m. to midnight. I know 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. is what you really want," Scaletta told Chacko. "I can't go there. This is a single-family home area. We want you to be here, but 24 hours isn't going to work in that single-family residential neighborhood."

As part of the hours restrictions, trustees voted 8-0 to give Chacko a special use permit that will allow him to expand the station's convenience store within the 1,300-square-foot building once occupied by an auto repair shop.

The new owner also plans to upgrade the building facade, add landscaping and install a fence. He'll also add sod to his half of a 20-foot-wide alley he shares with the homeowner to the north, by village request.