Lake Zurich rejects U-Haul plan for Route 22
Although U-Haul received a second chance from Lake Zurich government, the company has failed in an effort to open a facility in the village's eastern Route 22 corridor.
Village board trustees Monday night voted 5-0 against granting a special-use permit and approval for an exterior appearance proposal that U-Haul needed to open in a building on the northeast corner of Buesching Road and Route 22.
Trustee Jim Beaudoin said going into the meeting he had questions whether U-Haul would be the best use of the visible property.
"I didn't see there was significant changes to the actual site plan at this point to be comfortable enough moving forward on that parcel," Beaudoin said after the vote.
Members of the village's advisory planning and zoning commission last month recommended that a special-use permit be issued allowing U-Haul to operate from the 88,000-square-foot building. Before Monday night's vote, village board members took into consideration the panel's recommendation for the building on the roughly 9-acre site.
Lake Zurich village board members initially rejected U-Haul's proposal in August, citing a lack of a specific site plan for the property. But later in the same meeting, trustees agreed to give the company a second chance, a move Mayor Thomas Poynton said was unusual for village government.
Without that agreement, U-Haul would have been required to wait two years starting in August before submitting another plan. U-Haul will now have to wait two years as a result of Monday night's vote.
U-Haul's marketing president for the northwest Chicago-area branch, Heather Skelton, said the company significantly altered the plan to meet village requirements. For example, she said, U-Haul had intended to have trucks and trailers displayed outside toward the rear of the property instead of fronting Route 22 as originally proposed.
In addition, U-Haul planned to renovate the 88,000-square-foot building, creating a retail showroom in the redone structure. The site also would have included 1,200 self-storage units, and trucks and trailers available for rent.
Skelton declined to comment on the village board vote or U-Haul's plans.
Trustee Jeffrey Halen said he expects another business to become interested in the 88,000-square-foot building.
"It's a key location very close to our downtown, very close to our Rand Road corridor," he said.
"I look forward to the (building) owner working with someone on that."