Concerns About Planned Hinsdale Auto Shop

HINSDALE, IL – An auto repair shop planned for southwest Hinsdale has concerned a neighboring homeowners association.

Samir and Ghada Sharabatee are asking the village to permit the opening of Hinsdale Discount Tires and Automotive at 5837 S. Madison St.

JMS Auto Service was at the site for years, but closed in 2019.

In February, the village's Plan Commission unanimously recommended a permit for the business. But it added requirements such as limiting parking, painting the building's trim, limiting dumpsters to a fenced-in enclosure and adding greenery such as potted plants.

Wade Joyner, the lawyer for the Sharabatees, acknowledged the property was a bit rundown.

"The landlord is on board with some of these changes," he said. "The green trim doesn't look the best. It probably never has, unless it was painted in the '60s. So we're going to replace it with a bright, glossy white."

Ronald Hanson, president of the neighboring Golfview Hills Homeowners Association, said JMS was a low-impact operation that did not use all five of its bays.

He said neighbors fear the new business would use all the bays and expand the operation. He said Fuller's Auto Service, 102 Chicago Ave., is similarly sized, but it is in a business district.

"If (Discount Tires) ramps up to the volume of Fuller's, that's going to have a huge impact on the residential area," Hanson said. "Is this an appropriate location in Hinsdale for an auto repair shop?"

He suggested Hinsdale restrict hours, the number of employees and the bays in use.

Village President Tom Cauley said Fuller's has always kept its site clean and that the village would make sure Discount Tires would do so as well.

Trustee Neale Byrnes told the Sharabatees, "We want your business to do well."

Trustees said they would revisit the issue at their May 17 meeting.