Wheaton City Council Approves Construction of LA Fitness

Wheaton, IL. —On November 7, 2016, the Wheaton City Council approved plans for construction of an LA Fitness, located on the southeast corner of Roosevelt Road and Chase Street in the west suburbs of Wheaton.

The proposal was presented by Key Partners LLC, a Chicago-based construction company, in front of the council at a public hearing on October 17, 2016.

The proposal outlines a plan for a 34,000-square-foot LA Fitness that includes a 238 space, on-site parking lot and sets the property back 42 feet along the south property line of Roosevelt Road.

Wheaton City Manager Michael Dzugan informed the council at the October 17 meeting that the proposal met the city’s ordinances and building codes.

However, a restrictive covenant, a clause to a deed that limits what a landowner can do with a piece of property, was attached to the proposal.

The covenant prohibits the construction of a property within 103 feet of the south property line.

According to City Manager Dzugan, LA Fitness refused to move the proposed location of the building away from the restrictive covenant.

However, on November 7, 2016 it was amended.

At the hearing, many residents voiced concern that the traffic on the south-end of Roosevelt Road would prompt drivers to cut through Pershing Avenue, a residential street, to enter the gym parking lot.

“I guarantee you […] anybody that lives south of Roosevelt Road will be traveling down Pershing, making a right and then making a quick right to the gym,” said a resident of 809 Pershing Road in Wheaton.

“Pershing is a street where you can park only on one side,” said Wheaton resident Reno Phillips. “[…] There are a lot of people that use Pershing to ride their bike […} to walk their dogs. Many times they have to walk in the streets because there are no sidewalks on part of Pershing [on the north side of Pershing and President Street].”

While other residents voiced concern with the placement of power and utility lines as well as light-posts.

“Not only are we asking to remove 61 feet of the covenant […] we’re asking to take these people’s backyards and take their trees and put utility lines back there said resident, Tom Hugel.”

Michael Worth of KLOA, a traffic-consultant based in Rosemont and Steve Panko, a representative of Key Partners LLC, addressed these concerns.

According to Worth, there will be no access to the facility from Chase Street. All access will be from Roosevelt Road.

Worth told the council, “With the elimination of that Chase access, we don’t see a whole lot of our traffic […] using the residential roadways.”

When asked by Mayor Pro Tempore Phil Seuss, what effect the new building would have on traffic; Mr. Worth said that the traffic on Roosevelt should generate 50 cars inbound and outbound in the morning and double in the evening.

To resolve the power line issues, Mr. Panko stated that ComEd could potentially run the power lines through the south property line or along the east and north across Roosevelt Road.

After the public comments, the council made their own comments.

“I think everybody can agree this is a great improvement over what is there now,” said At-Large Councilwoman Suzanne Fitch. “We have vacant, dilapidated properties there now and obviously, we need this property to turn over and be developed.”

Councilman Todd Scalzo said about the traffic concerns, “Traffic is kind’ve a paradox. It’s like a good problem to have because it means you do have a thriving community and there’s a lot of people coming to town. So that’s a good thing, but obviously, there’s a lot of safety concerns.”

The project was unanimously given the greenlight with the exception that an 8-foot fence be constructed where the LA Fitness is adjacent to residential property.

Visit the link below to see where the LA Fitness will be constructed.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/buildout-production/documents/146215/dbad484cd4a1c70d2eb84a30c95004f2bf044c6d/doc.pdf?1386880338