Driver's license facility may be sent packing from Libertyville

A Libertyville mall owner says a lack of rent payments from the Illinois Secretary of State's office could hasten the departure of its driver's license facility from its Peterson Road home for nearly 30 years.

Stephen Martin, whose family owns the Brookside Shopping Center, said Wednesday the state owes $46,100 in unpaid rent this year. The facility has been at the strip mall since 1987.

Martin said he won't sign a five-year extension of the office's lease that ends Sept. 30 until he receives the back rent. He said the state - still without a budget and owing a variety of creditors - indicated it would find money if he agreed to extend the lease during five-day window that's since expired.

"Basically, it's almost a bit of extortion," Martin said.

Secretary of State spokesman Dave Druker said the office prefers to keep the driver's license operation in Libertyville. However, he said, the state must be prepared to relocate if the Brookside lease isn't extended soon.

Among the possible relocation sites is Deerpath Commons on Rand Road in Lake Zurich.

The owner of Deerpath Commons will be going before the village's advisory planning and zoning commission May 18 with a proposal that would allow the Secretary of State to operate there.

Village Trustee Jeffrey Halen said Lake Zurich could benefit from visitors shopping or dining in the village when traveling to the driver's license facility.

"I think that this will be a great opportunity for Lake Zurich," he said. "If the state does move forward in selecting Lake Zurich, I think that this will be a great fit."

John Alan Sfire, whose Fidelity Group Ltd. owns Deerpath Commons, said he's "99 percent" certain the state will open the driver's license facility in his mall. He said he's been talking to the state for about two years.

"It's too old," Sfire said of the Libertyville facility. "It doesn't function properly."

Under the proposal for Deerpath Commons, the secretary of state would fill a 9,638-square-foot space adjacent to House of Hope Resale. There would be six vehicle testing areas and a separate spot for motorcycles behind Flooring Boutique, which is in a building on the northern end of the property. Commercial licenses for truck drivers would not be handled at the facility.

Lake Zurich must grant a special-use permit to Fidelity Group for the driver's license operation to occupy Deerpath Commons.

Increased traffic on Rand Road, lack of mall parking and potential noise from the motorcycle testing area are among the concerns that surfaced about the proposal in an online poll conducted by the village. Sfire said he reviewed the comments from the roughly 60 respondents and said he looks forward to appearing before the planning and zoning commission, which will send a recommendation to the village board for a final vote.

As for Martin, it's not the first time he's been in a rent squabble with the state.

In 2010, Martin went public with a threat to evict the facility because he was owed three months of back rent and expenses, totaling nearly $43,000. The state paid up in about two weeks.

"I wish the guy (Sfire) the best of luck to get the rent," Martin said.