Church’s move into Rolling Meadows office building approved despite neighbors’ traffic complaints

Rolling Meadows City Council members have approved a church’s request to move into a portion of an office building, despite objections from some neighbors who fear the plan could exacerbate traffic problems in the area.

180 Chicago Church, a Christian congregation that currently holds Sunday services inside the Jack A. Claes Pavilion in Elk Grove Village and a day care facility in Chicago’s South Loop, plans to build a 258-seat auditorium inside the brick office building at 5550 Meadowbrook Industrial Court in Rolling Meadows. It’s within a business park zoned for manufacturing on the south end of town, between Algonquin Road and the Jane Addams Tollway.

The church’s $2 million purchase of the single-story, 36,250-square-foot building from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons was contingent on getting a special use permit to operate a religious institution there. That came via a 5-0 city council vote Tuesday night.

The church plans to convert existing office space on the eastern two-thirds of the building into the auditorium, classrooms, a children’s gym, nursery and meeting spaces. The doctors’ organization will lease back the other third of the property for seven years at a base rent of $14 per square foot, according to terms of the contract.

Residents of nearby townhouses — located about 200 feet to the east across from Salt Creek — complained at earlier city meetings that their new neighbor could generate more car traffic and backups on two-lane Meadowbrook where it intersects with busy four-lane Algonquin.

That’s where Driven Car Wash already causes long lines and stacking issues, and left turns onto Algonquin are especially difficult, they say.

The morning after residents first complained at a Feb. 3 city planning and zoning commission hearing on the church proposal, a 70-year-old man was struck and killed by a vehicle at the intersection.

But Mayor Lara Sanoica said planned city upgrades to the intersection — a realignment, widening and dedicated right-turn lane — should improve visibility, reduce turning delays and enhance truck turning movements.

Citing a city engineer’s report, Sanoica believes the changes will mitigate many of the issues near the busy car wash and reduce the frequency and length of vehicle stacking on Meadowbrook.

As for the new place of worship, the mayor said it’s anticipated to generate “concentrated, short-duration” queues around weekend services times, which are off-peak from the weekday hours of adjacent businesses.

Algonquin Road is under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation, and city officials say it is unlikely that the intersection will meet state criteria to install a traffic signal.