Developer Touts Elmhurst Warehouse; Residents Opposed

ELMHURST, IL – For a second time, opponents of a planned warehouse in southwest Elmhurst filled City Hall.

On Tuesday, the city's meeting room lacked enough seating for a zoning hearing, leaving some standing.

Residents objected to the proposal for a warehouse on Riverside Drive in southwest Elmhurst, near Salt Creek Elementary School.

The project would mean the demolition of Clarion Inn.

Representatives of Houston-based Alliance Industrial Co. made the case for the project. They have no tenants lined up yet, although they rejected the idea that it would become an ICE jail.

The representatives said they have changed the proposal to reflect public feedback during a hearing two weeks ago.

The project includes more landscaping, which the representatives said would serve as a buffer between the site and houses on the other side of the Salt Creek Greenway.

Mark Hoffman, a member of the Elmhurst Zoning and Planning Commission, asks a warehouse developer a question Tuesday. (David Giuliani/Patch)

The representatives also said the warehouse would include 14 docks initially, not the previously cited 32. They said the number could increase to 28 eventually.

They noted feedback that residents could hear noise from the next-door city public works facility. Residents thought that may be the case with the new building.

But Alliance attorney Andrew Scott said the public works department keeps a lot of equipment and gas pumps at the back of the facility, nearer the houses. And he said the bay doors are kept open.

"Our activities are going to be indoors," he said. "We won't open bay doors, except for loading and unloading of trucks."

He said the developer would remove lead, arsenic and mercury from the soil, adding the project would have a "positive impact" on neighbors.

An audience member loudly sighed.

In making its case, Alliance has highlighted the criminal activity at Clarion Inn.

In Tuesday's presentation, the firm provided more detail about 23 incidents over two years.

According to the firm's information, police have responded to nine domestic battery calls and investigated alleged prostitution four times. Officers also handled two cases of disorderly conduct, with one incident described as a "large fight."

The developer contended the warehouse would bring $128,000 more in local tax money than the hotel.

Additionally, Alliance said the warehouse would have less of an impact on traffic than the hotel.

At the hearing, members of the Zoning and Planning Commission asked Alliance about the project.

Andrew Scott, attorney for Alliance Industrial Co., on Tuesday promotes his client's proposed warehouse in southwest Elmhurst. (David Giuliani/Patch)

Member Michael Scarsella said Alliance's traffic study was done during Salt Creek Elementary's spring break, meaning the analysis may be inaccurate.

"The school is a big user of the streets," he said.

Alliance executive Cory Welper said his firm was willing to do the study again.

Another member, Michael Hoffman, said he worried about the traffic impact on the nearby five-legged intersection that includes Riverside Drive and Route 83.

"We are already at a troubled intersection," he said.

Neighbors have contended the development would bring more truck traffic and present hazards for nearby schoolchildren.

They have also said the warehouse would add to air pollution. But the developer said the pollution effect would be negligible, given the amount of Route 83 traffic.

The commission made no decisions after a more than three-hour hearing. They are expected to vote on the project later.