Pet day care facility gets informal go-ahead in Vernon Hills
A pet day care facility is being planned for the long vacant LA Fitness building, 30 W. Phillip Road, facing Route 60 in Vernon Hills.
PetSuites, a chain with 38 locations in several Midwest and southern states, received the informal go-ahead Tuesday from the village board.
As proposed, this would be the Indiana-based company's second location in Illinois. The first, at 309 Randall Road in Lake in the Hills, is opening soon, according to the website.
“We're looking to repurpose this building,” company representative Charlie Haapala told Vernon Hills trustees during an informal work session. “It's about 20,000 square feet and we'd like to subdivide it.”
PetSuites would use about 13,000 square feet for boarding, grooming and other services, and find a to-be-determined tenant for the remaining space, he said.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, 60% to 65% of business was overnight boarding for the pets of business travelers, according to Haapala. The facility will be able to accommodate up to 70 dogs, which are the vast majority of boarded animals.
The business would be operated completely indoors. A sealed concrete slab where animals would relieve themselves would include a system of floor drains connected to a sanitary sewer. Solid waste would be “picked up as it occurs,” Haapala told the board.
“There is extensive daily cleaning,” he said. “Cleanliness is paramount. People wouldn't bring their pets if they go back home smelly. It doesn't work.”
The question was raised because a proposal in 2013 for a “pet hotel” at a different location in town called for pets to be taken outside for that purpose and there was concern about potential runoff into a nearby lake. That plan also received informal approval from the board but didn't materialize.
Building Commissioner Mike Atkinson said the zoning would need to be changed from office/research/development to general business to allow the business to operate.
A definition for pet day care facilities also would need to be created, and that type of business would require a special use in a business district, he added.
“This area is difficult,” he said of the location. “We're opening it up to a range of users. It's no guarantee, but I think the zoning change will help market the property.”
The staff will make a detailed review of the plans in advance of a public hearing before the village's planning and zoning commission, which will make a recommendation to the village board.
Haapala said a vet service may be added at some point but that is to be determined. Before the coronavirus, he said, “we just couldn't build enough” facilities.
“We're optimistic. The adoption agencies are empty right now and we do believe things will get back to normal and people will start traveling again, because that's really (our) core, bulk business.”
Trustee Jim Schultz said it sounds like a good location for this type of business.
“I think it's a good use for that facility,” he said. “Hopefully, the marketplace will bear you out.