Park district: No taxpayer dollars will be spent to expand Cosley Zoo parking
If the Wheaton Park District gets the green light to build a 93-space parking lot across the street from Cosley Zoo, the project would cost an estimated $2.1 million, officials said.
However, the park district says no taxpayer dollars will be used to pay for the design and construction.
“The Cosley Foundation is covering the entire cost of the design and construction of the new parking area, which is estimated at $2.1 million.” the park district said in a written statement.
The announcement came this week as the Wheaton Planning and Zoning Board considers whether the city should approve the park district’s plan for the parking area.
A public hearing on the parking plan lasted more than four hours on Tuesday and will resume at 6 p.m. on May 14.
The park district said it needs accessory parking to handle overflow from an 80-space lot at the zoo, 1351 N. Gary Ave.
Park district attorney Phil Luetkehans produced documents during a March 12 hearing that show the zoo lot reached capacity an average of 174 days a year over the last eight years.
If built, the new parking lot would be on the east side of Gary Avenue, across the street from the zoo.
However, residents strongly oppose the idea. They contest the validity of the claim that another parking lot is needed.
Residents opposed to the plan also have voiced concern about the safety of patrons crossing Gary from the proposed parking lot.
The proposed parking lot would cover roughly an acre of the 6-acre property the park district owns on the east side of Gary Avenue. The rest of the site would remain green space.
The plan has changed several times since last July when the park district released an initial plan for a 258-space lot spanning the entire property.
A November revision reduced the number of parking spaces to 150. The following month, the district proposed a two-phase plan of an initial 73 spaces with the potential to add 77 later.
The plan for a 93-space lot using permeable pavers was released in February and has since been tweaked.
South of the existing lot, the park district would make 30 spaces available at its administration building at Prairie and Gary avenues. District employees would park at the proposed accessory lot.
Independently, a city of Wheaton project beginning this year will improve Gary Avenue from Harrison Avenue to Jewell Road. The work will include the installation of turn lanes and a traffic signal at the intersection of Gary and Prairie.
It will be up to the planning and zoning board to recommend if the Wheaton City Council should approve or deny the park district’s request for the accessory parking lot.