Why temporary parking gets extension at Naperville shop
A temporary parking lot that some describe as an "unattractive" or "a used car lot" can stay for five years at the new Standard Market grocery store in Naperville.
City council members authorized the lot to remain in place at 1508 Aurora Ave., just west of the city's police and fire stations, until Oct. 7, 2020.
In an 8-1 vote, council member Paul Hinterlong was the opposition. He said allowing a "temporary" parking lot to remain for five years between Standard Market and Speedway along Aurora Avenue sets a bad precedent and preserves an eyesore.
"Right now it looks like a used car lot," Hinterlong said.
But soon, the gravel lot west of the store's main paved parking area won't look quite as "unattractive," as council member Rebecca Boyd-Obarski described it.
Property owner Vince Priest agreed Tuesday to pave the lot with binder asphalt, add striping and install a landscaping buffer along the northern edge facing Aurora Avenue.
The work appears to have started immediately. On Wednesday afternoon, just one day after the temporary parking extension was granted, orange cones blocked off the lot, the gravel looked as if it had been flattened and two paving vehicles stood in one corner of the area.
Temporary parking improvements are in exchange for permission to keep parking there for up to five years while Priest finds a buyer to develop the site.
Priest said he's "vigorously pursuing" developers for outlots on the property and there has been interest. But he hasn't followed up with potential buyers because he said he's seeking a retail use that will be complementary to what Standard Market offers as a high-end grocer. So far, the proposals he's received haven't fit.
"I believe we'll get it developed and it'll look the way you want it to look," Priest said. "We're going to sell it and we're not going to make it a permanent lot ... This is temporary in every sense of the word."
Standard Market in Naperville opened in May 2014 as the company's first location other than its original Westmont store.
While the shop was being built, the temporary parking lot was installed to house construction vehicles. Once the store opened, the lot began to serve as employee parking.
Priest originally sought permission for it to remain until June 1, 2016, but the city council last fall gave him a deadline of Dec. 31, 2015 to turn the land into a use other than gravel parking. Tuesday's council action now has given him an additional five years to develop the site.
Council member Kevin Gallaher, who said he lives a few blocks from Standard Market, says that's not so bad - especially compared to what used to be on the site.
"Looking at the gravel parking lot is nothing compared to the 10 to 15 years that I had to look at the probably mouse-infested, abandoned Frank's Nursery & Crafts building with rusted-out shopping carts," Gallaher said. "As a resident of the area, I can live with the temporary parking for a little while longer ... It's infinitely better than what we dealt with for a very, very long time."