Proposed Sports Complex Near Darien Fails First Hurdle

DARIEN, IL — A DuPage County panel on Thursday rejected a proposed zoning change that would pave the way for a sports complex just outside of Darien.

This is not the end of the road for the project. It is set go through another committee and the County Board next month.

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Sports Complex Planned Near Darien

Sports enthusiasts supported the complex, but neighbors opposed it. The domed complex is planned for 17W411 S. Frontage Road, just outside Darien's boundaries and near Burr Ridge.

DuPage County has held a number of hearings on the proposal. While the Zoning Board of Appeals voted down the project, it is slated to go before the county's Development Committee on Jan. 5 and the County Board a week later.

Darien Patch has obtained comments submitted to the county from both supporters and opponents.

Clarendon Hills resident Rebecca Smith is among the backers. She said her family enjoys recreational and club sports, particularly soccer.

"We find that we regularly need to travel to matches, leagues and events ... which is especially challenging with multiple children and working parents," Smith wrote.

Hinsdale residents Andrea and Rae Mugnolo said this part of the county needs such a complex, saying demand for such facilities is greater than the availability.

Many of the supporters used almost identical wording in their emails to the county, suggesting a form letter was circulated.

Kaley Babich, a coach with the Woodridge-based 1st Alliance Volleyball Club, was one of the few who departed from the script. She said youth organizations are struggling to find space during the pandemic because most schools' gyms are unavailable.

"Once our state reopens, it will be a long road before these spaces will be available to accommodate youth athletes, outside of school sports, as COVID-19 restrictions will continue to remain in place," Babich said in her email to the county.

In its communications, opponents said they preferred the wooded habitat on the existing property. They said the sports complex would increase traffic, stormwater runoff and noise. They also feared the effect on their property values.

Some said that if development must happen, they wanted single-family homes.

"My children go to sleep by 8 p.m. These lights will be on until 11 p.m.-12 a.m.," resident Meghan Peake Moore said in her email. "The noise of whistles and crowds until 10-11 p.m. every night will keep my children awake and impact their quality of life. I am not exaggerating."

Resident Aleksandra Kremper agreed.

"I will be in the direct exposure path from the industrial strength lights, megaphone announcements, the noise of drunk patrons late into the night seven days a week," Kremper wrote. "Our largest source of noise at this point are frogs at my neighbor's pond. Nuisance is too small of a word to describe the change that would bring in my daily enjoyment of my home for eight years."

Resident Jane Both said the project would bring diminished property values.

"If a 79-foot dome spanning 2 acres was located less than a mile from my house and visible every time I stepped out of my house and looked to the west, you can bet we would never have bought our house," Both said.

Covering 90,000 square feet, Sawmill Garden Sports Complex would include an indoor facility offering court sports, three soccer fields and an area for batting cages.

In another building would be a restaurant and bar, along with meeting rooms, squash courts and a noncompetition swimming pool, according to the developer's documents. Three outdoor athletic fields are planned.

The company, West Suburban Athletic Corp., needs to change the residential zoning to make the complex a reality. It says a diversity of uses already exists in the area, noting the 187,000-square-foot Sterling Bay trucking and distribution center is west of the property in question.

The company's attorney couldn't be reached for immediate comment Friday.