Should east St. Charles pause new car washes, gas stations, drive-throughs? Moratorium fails to gain steam

With new business activity like the Fox Haven Square entertainment district and the redeveloping of Charlestowne Mall, the eastern corridor of St. Charles is changing fast.

Worried about certain types of businesses not matching the “community’s vision,” one alderperson proposed a moratorium on select proposals — namely new car washes, gas stations, self-storage facilities, drive-through fast food joints and banks.

While the proposal didn’t gain enough support from city council members, the panel agreed the city’s comprehensive plan should be reviewed, with extra attention on new business proposals in the eastern corridor.

During the March 2 committee of the whole meeting, Alderperson Jayme Muenz proposed a temporary moratorium for specific land uses along the Route 64 eastern corridor.

She said the extra time granted by the moratorium would provide the opportunity to better understand “what our residents want in this corridor.” Muenz said she was concerned about recent zoning land use proposals stretching all the way to downtown.

“The eastern corridor represents a significant gateway into St. Charles and several development opportunities are emerging that will shape this area for decades,” Muenz said during the meeting. “Before these projects move forward, it’s important to ensure our planning documents are accurately reflecting the community’s visions for that corridor.”

While several council members said they could always exercise their ability not to approve new businesses they feel do not fit the character of the community, they were mostly opposed to Muenz’s proposal.

“A moratorium will send a message that St. Charles is closed for business and development, and we need that for our economic vitality to support our tax base,” Alderman Bryan Wirball said. “I think we need to be flexible with the market.”

Wirball said he was worried a moratorium would “scare off” businesses because of the planning uncertainty it would cause.

Alderman Bob Gehm also was concerned about too many car washes in town, but said he supports a citywide comprehensive plan review.

Muenz said the businesses she wants to see paused should not be built on an important commercial thoroughfare, arguing such land uses limit other development opportunities, do not provide job growth and generate little sales tax.

She said once these businesses are approved, the city is stuck with them for decades because it’s too hard to redevelop the site without a teardown.

“Car washes are very difficult to remediate when they go out of business. They are popping up and then going out of business almost as quickly, and you just can’t turn that into something else,” Muenz said.

She pointed to recent moratoriums adopted in Batavia regarding developments along Route 25, and Aurora pausing data center developments. She said the pause allows the city to study character, traffic and economic impacts, and land availability.

Muenz said a moratorium could be a “temporary tool to support responsible planning” to “remove the pressure of any pending development proposal.”

She added, thoughtful planning could help ensure traffic congestion along Route 64 does not turn into Route 59, which has four lanes in each direction but frequently is “slow-moving.”

“We have most of our traffic coming into our downtown, our historic city, through that corridor. What do we want that to look like for our visitors?” Muenz asked.

Alderwoman Vicki Spellman said she supports Muenz’s proposed moratorium because a complete revision of the city comprehensive plan could be lengthy.

The plan is set to be revised for the 2027-28 fiscal year, according to city staff.

“We could do that much more quickly and have a significant impact on what is becoming a really lively area in development with Fox Haven Square that will hopefully spur some greater interest and help us with Charlestowne Mall,” Spellman said. “I don’t want anything to slow down potential interest there as we’re revitalizing those efforts.”

Spellman said some of the new business proposals are “not great for our community and we already have something like 10 car washes in the area.”