Village Gives Conditional Approval to Luxury Car Sales on Tower Drive

The Burr Ridge Village Board Monday night gave temporary and highly conditional approval to a zoning change and special use permit that will allow limited retail sales of luxury automobiles at 145 and 161 Tower Drive.

The request came from Ludicrous 6, LLC, a company owned by Sultan Issa of Hinsdale. The firm owns 3,000 square feet of space at 145 Tower Drive and leases 14,000 square feet of space at 161 Tower Drive. Issa already uses the space at the two locations to store cars sold through Seriously, Inc., an Indiana company that he has an ownership interest in.

Although the properties are contiguous, they lie in two different zoning districts. The building at 145 Tower Drive is in an RA (research assembly) district, while the structure at 161 Tower Drive is in an LI (light industrial) district.

Neither retail or auto sales have been permitted uses in an RA district, but are allowed as a special use in an LI district. By a 3-2 vote, a divided Plan Commission last week recommended allowing the special use in the LI district and an amendment to the RA district adding “indoor sales of luxury and exotic automobiles” as a special use.

In response to a question from Trustee Maureen Wott, the board was told that pre-owned Bentleys, Ferraris, and Lamborghinis would be among the types of cars sold at the site.

“I just don’t want to see a used-car lot,” Wott said.

Residents voice concerns

About 30 village residents, most of whom live on Carriage Way or Old Mill Lane, packed the board meeting room to express their opposition to auto sales in their neighborhood. They expressed concerns about noise, traffic, security, and impact on property values.

“I probably know more about this operation than anyone else in this room because I overlook it,” Richard Taylor said. “We are creating a situation that’s a used car lot. I don’t care if it’s $500,000 [automobiles] or $20,000, it’s a used car lot.”

“This is a used car lot,“ agreed Dick Vande Merkt. “I don’t care how you slice it.“

He told trustees he had lived on Old Mill Lane for 20 years, describing the first 15 as quiet, but noting increasing noise issues in the past five years.

“Are we going to have more retail on Tower Drive?” he asked. “This is a bad precedent as far as I’m concerned.”

Dave Kocher, who also owns space at 145 Tower Drive, presented the board with website printouts showing that Global Luxury Imports, LLC, a division of Seriously, Inc., already was listing 145 and 161 Tower Drive as its business addresses.

“They’re already a dealer operating there,” Kocher said. “They’re operating without a license.”

Hinsdale attorney Christina Brotto, representing Issa, said all sales of automobiles stored in Burr Ridge are done through his company in Hammond, Indiana.

“We are a valid Indiana wholesale dealer,” Issa added.

He said Burr Ridge was being listed as the company’s address on the Internet because “Burr Ridge has a better name than Hammond, Indiana. Let’s be honest.”

Issa said he was seeking a license for retail auto sales in Illinois because currently he has to take clients to Hammond to transact sales.

“That’s very burdensome,” he said.

After reviewing the documents presented by Kocher, Mayor Gary Grasso expressed displeasure with Issa.

“This takes me back a bit,” he said. “It seems like you’ve jumped the gun.”

Conditions imposed

Brotto noted that Issa already had voluntarily agreed to a number of conditions on his use of the properties to alleviate the concerns of residential neighbors. These included limiting the number of customers to no more than four at a time at each location and limiting hours of business to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Service or repair work, including painting, would not be done on site, vehicles would not be stored outside, and there would be no outdoor advertising.

Trustees decided to impose some additional conditions, including a requirement that 90 percent of all auto sales must be of vehicles priced at $100,000 or more, that there be no test driving of vehicles in the neighboring residential area, and that the village’s noise ordinance would apply to the operation. Additionally, they agreed to review the matter six months from the date that Issa obtained an Illinois dealer’s license and again six months after the first review to ensure compliance. They reserved the right to revoke the special use exemption for the properties if citizen concerns were not addressed to their satisfaction.

Trustee John Manieri formulated the motion, which passed on a 4-1 vote. Trustee Bob Grela voted against the motion and Trustee Bob Sodikoff was absent.