With opposition aplenty, car wash plan is a washout in Mundelein
Plans for a new car wash on Mundelein's southwest side are headed for the scrap pile.
The business was proposed for wooded, residential property on the 300 block of East Route 83. The site is northwest of Willow Spring Road, near the western end of Town Line Road.
A farm once operated on the land, village documents indicate. Single-family homes that are within Long Grove's boundaries are nearby.
The would-be developer, a Chicago company called Car Wash Pro Designers, envisioned a one-story automated car wash building with exterior self-serve vacuum stations.
The company had requested the board rezone the property to general commercial from residential to allow the business. The developer also requested a special-use permit for the operation.
But the village board on Monday voted to direct staffers to draft ordinances rejecting both requests.
Mundelein's planning and zoning commission, which advises the village board on development issues, recommended rejection of the proposal after review last year.
Several nearby residents expressed concerns about the possible impact of the business on their neighborhood, particularly traffic and noise. Water pollution was an issue for at least one person, too.
Some of those speakers repeated their concerns near the start of Monday's village board meeting. No audience members spoke in favor of the plan.
Alan Jacob, a representative of Car Wash Pro Designers, addressed the noise, traffic and water pollution concerns and pleaded with trustees Monday to back his group's plan.
But board members overwhelmingly opposed the plan. Of the six trustees, Kerston Russell was the only one who didn't vote to direct staffers to draft ordinances rejecting the developer's key requests.
Russell said he hoped a compromise could be reached between the developer and the residents and suggested delaying the votes. Trustee Kara Lambert rebuked him for that idea, saying a delay would insult the planning commission and waste time.
The board actually took four votes on the proposal, but the other two essentially are irrelevant if the property isn't rezoned or if the company doesn't get a special use permit.