Elk Grove Village OKs asphalt plant

Elk Grove Village officials Tuesday welcomed a new asphalt plant to town that is expected to generate more than $100,000 in sales and property tax revenues for the village.

The business, in operation for 25 years, is being displaced by the future construction of the northern leg of the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway western bypass. It is moving across the street from its current location, 1817 Elmhurst Road in Chicago and unincorporated Cook County, and into Elk Grove’s industrial park on the west side of Elmhurst Road between Pratt Boulevard and Lunt Avenue.

The owner, Sam Palumbo’s PAL Group Inc. applying on behalf of Orange Crush, sought a text amendment and special use permit to allow the asphalt plant and related operations in the village’s heaviest industrial district at the east end of town near O’Hare airport, roughly five miles from residentially zoned property.

The plant heats raw materials into asphalt for road and parking lot repairs. The company will raze existing buildings, some vacant, to redevelop the 12-acre site and build a new facility, officials said.

“We are working with the tenants to relocate them in Elk Grove Village,” Mayor Craig Johnson said.

Johnson said the village will have direct oversight of the asphalt plant’s operations and be able to regulate any negative impacts.

“Right now, we are getting all the impact from the business but none of the benefits,” Johnson said.

Village officials last year objected to Arrow Road Construction of Mount Prospect wanting to open a concrete and asphalt recycling facility in an unincorporated area on the south side of Oakton in the heart of a business park. They were concerned about excessive noise, dust, odors and traffic and annexed the area.

The Orange Crush plant’s new location is paved with asphalt, and the truck traffic won’t kick up dust as with its current dirt and gravel site, Johnson said.

While the business will be surrounded by other industrial and commercial properties, “they are going to do good screening,” Johnson added.

There will be a decorative wall along all road frontages and partial rear of the property. A black chain-link fence will screen emergency exits and adjacent fencing. The rear of the property will be screened by an existing chain-link fence.

The facility will operate from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday from April until November.