Decision coming on controversial Lake Barrington gas station plan?
A gas station plan fueling debate and protest among Lake Barrington residents since the summer could win approval from village officials this week.
The Lake Barrington village board will discuss the proposal to build a Speedway gas station at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Kelsey Road at a special meeting Wednesday.
A resident group called STOP Speedway in Lake Barrington has urged its members to attend the meeting to oppose the plan.
“We MUST show up to the Trustee meeting in OVERWHELMING numbers,” a message on the group's Facebook page reads. “If you truly don't want this MEGA gas station being built at an already very busy intersection at the entrance to our lovely village, please show up to the meeting.”
Speedway's proposal calls for a station with 20 gas pumps and a 4,608-square-foot convenience store. In October, Lake Barrington's plan commission voted 4-3 in favor of the plan, which changed significantly over the course of four public meetings dating back to August.
Chris Martin, Lake Barrington village administrator, said the company's designers have worked to make it so the station would be one of the best-looking in the area.
“(Speedway has) been extraordinary in terms of moving away from their original design,” Martin said.
But residents have a long list of concerns, saying the station would increase crime, snarl traffic, belch hazardous chemicals and contaminate the groundwater.
Agnes Tomasian organized a protest last Sunday afternoon that she said drew about 60 people. Protesters held signs saying things like “People B4 Profit” and “Drinking Water, R.I.P.” across the street from the land where the station would be built, she said.
“I didn't think we were being heard,” Tomasian said. “So we thought we would speak a little louder.”
Tomasian said the potential environmental concerns are one of her biggest issues with the gas station. She questions the measures that Speedway says it'll take to avoid gas spilling and getting into the groundwater, an issue of particular significance in Lake Barrington, which uses well water.
Martin said his concerns about groundwater contamination were satisfied by an environmental report the village requested that found the necessary precautions in place, including a double-lined tank and a monitoring system.
“They've been very responsive to the environmental concerns of the plan commission and members of the public,” Martin said.
While Speedway may have eased the plan commission's concerns, members of the public seem less reassured.
“We don't have a lot of faith in what they're telling us,” Tomasian said. “Everything at one time or another will malfunction. We don't want to be the guinea pigs.”
The special meeting will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the village hall, 23860 N. Old Barrington Road.