Life Time Fitness asks Lake Zurich for extra time to re-evaluate
One week after the Lake Zurich planning and zoning commission voted 5-1 against recommending a plan to build a new fitness center at the old Hackney's site, Life Time Fitness has requested its scheduled appearance Feb. 6 before the village board be delayed.
Sarosh Saher, the village's community development director, said Aaron Koehler, the director of development at Life Time, called him Tuesday and made the request so the company could re-evaluate the project. Saher said Koehler later submitted his request in writing to the village board.
Koehler did not return phone calls for comment Thursday or Friday.
Life Time's request comes after three planning and zoning commission hearings to discuss the proposal.
The five commissioners who voted against recommending the plan said they felt it would hurt residential property values, create dangerous traffic scenarios and be too big for the site.
This will not be the first time Life Time has re-evaluated its plan. The initial plan presented in August was to build a three-story health, athletic and recreation center with two outdoor pools at 880 N. Old Rand Road.
Under the original concept, the building would have been about 125,000 square feet and feature cardiovascular and resistance training areas, as well as studios for cycling, yoga, Pilates and more. It would include dance, art, music and tumbling studios for children.
Over the next several months as it received feedback from residents, Life Time made changes to the plan. In October it offered to enhance the landscaping around the property to better screen the building from residents.
In November the plan was altered, moving the building farther southwest on the property and away from nearby residents.
In December, Life Time changed the plan again, swapping the locations of the building and the outdoor pool deck so the pools would be on the east side of the building, even farther from residents.
Life Time did not elect to significantly reduce the size of the building.