Trucks At Hinsdale Church Irk Neighbor; Practice Ended

HINSDALE, IL – A Hinsdale church indicated Wednesday it is no longer storing commercial-branded trucks in its parking lot after a neighbor complained to the village for months.

Fuller's Home & Hardware, which is in downtown Hinsdale, had parked its trucks overnight and on weekends at Zion Lutheran Church.

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The church is on Grant Street, a few blocks away from the store.

The trucks were in the parking lot behind resident Maria Baksay's house.

In early April, Baksay started emailing village officials about the trucks parked there. She suggested that it likely violated the village code for a church to store such trucks on its lot.

Patch obtained the village's correspondence through a public records request.

In response to a Patch inquiry, the church said Wednesday that the trucks were no longer there.

Patch also left messages Tuesday with the hardware store and village officials Kathleen Gargano and Ellen Weber.

"Seemingly, allowing commercial vehicles to repeatedly park in church parking lots overnight is not compliant with zoning regulations," Baksay said in an April 8 email. "I worry that if allowed for one business, it could lead to even more businesses looking to use this parking lot to store their commercial vehicles/trucks."

She wanted to get an answer about whether such parking was allowed.

Five weeks later, she emailed village officials again, saying she was "kindly" requesting an answer to her question. This time, she included Village Board members.

Baksay said she had been told by residents that such parking wasn't allowed.

"Further, two local realtors have told me home values decrease near commercial parking lots," she said.

Shortly after, Weber, the village's interim zoning official, said her supervisor, Village Manager Gargano, had asked her to look into the issue.

In late May, Weber informed Baksay that she understood the vehicles were removed.

Baksay confirmed that fact.

"Hopefully, this matter will remain addressed," she said.

On June 17, though, Baksay informed the village that five of the trucks were again parked in the church's lot. The village's correspondence includes no reported instances of trucks parking there since then.

In a statement Wednesday to Patch, Baksay said she appreciated the church and the village working together to ensure zoning rules are consistently enforced.

"Standards regarding the parking of commercial vehicles are in place to protect the residential character and visual appeal of our community," she said. "Consistent application of these standards helps maintain the charm of our beautiful community."

This year, the village has suffered turnover in its zoning department.

Fuller's Home & Hardware has similar ownership to Fuller's Car Wash, which is also downtown. In early 2025, Fuller's Car Wash filed for bankruptcy in the wake of a lawsuit over a fatal crash at the business.