W. Dundee panel endorses Wal-Mart requests
Despite objections from about half a dozen homeowners neighboring the site of a proposed 186,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter, West Dundee planning and zoning commissioners on Tuesday recommended several site variances for the world's largest retailer.
At the public hearing to open the commission meeting, about half a dozen residents continued to voice their concern of increased traffic along Tartans Road, west of the development. The most vocal opposition group known as the Dundee Neighbors again had a large presence at the meeting.
At the first public hearing held more than two weeks prior, commissioners asked Wal-Mart to conduct a study on patterns at the intersection of Huntley Road and Tartans Road.
Residents said the development would encourage motorists to use Tartans Road as a shortcut between Route 72 and Huntley Road.
Debra Newberg, a West Dundee resident, said the developer did not complete an accurate study in limiting the area of interest to Huntley Road and Tartans Drive. Newberg and other residents said the study should also have included Tartans Road and Route 72.
"The whole point has been missed," Newberg said. "The cut-through traffic is not going to Wal-Mart, it is coming from people avoiding the increased traffic along Huntley Road. You missed the boat when you only did study on one side of Tartans."
The commission's recommendations will now go before the village board for final approval.
Wal-Mart, which plans to build a store at the corner of Huntley Road and Elm Avenue on the outskirts of Spring Hill Mall, requested changes to parking lot site plans and exterior signage.
After closing a public hearing that was restricted to discussion on an updated traffic impact study by the retailer, commissioners recommended taller parking lot light poles, fewer but larger islands in the parking lot, wider parking lot aisles to allow two-way traffic and also larger curb cuts at entrances at Huntley Road and Elm Avenue.
Wal-Mart requested 42-foot-high light poles to provide more efficient lighting of the area. Cathleen Tymoszenko, the village's community development director, said the taller poles would allow sufficient coverage with fewer light poles.
The six commission members also recommended the village board approve the use of a seasonal outdoor sales area. The recommendation would allow the retailer to set up an outdoor garden area that other retailers like Target and Home Depot already utilize.
But not all requests were granted. Commissioners did not recommend larger free standing signage at the development's main entrances. Wal-Mart had requested 100-square-foot signs, but the village's code limits freestanding signs to 20 square feet.
"What the code allows is too small," Commissioner Rick Gilmore told Wal-Mart representatives. "But what is presented is too big."