Hinsdale Won't Revoke Car Wash Permit: Official

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale has no legal power to revoke the permit for a car wash where an employee struck a 14-year-old pedestrian with a car last year, a top official said Tuesday.

At a Village Board meeting, Village President Tom Cauley also said Hinsdale took action related to Fuller's Car Wash, 102 Chicago Ave., after the parents of the victim spoke out at a Village Board meeting three weeks ago.

They called for greater action, and in a letter, their lawyer demanded the village revoke the car wash's permit.

After the April 16 meeting, Cauley said the village honored the request of Brian and Kristine Richards, parents of Sean Patrick Richards. They asked the village to hire an independent engineer to look at whether Fuller's plan to place barriers known as bollards was enough to stop cars from hitting pedestrians.

Cauley previously defended the village's regular engineering firm, HR Green, expressing confidence in the firm's approval of the car wash's previous plan. (Fuller's put up bollards in the days after the July 17 crash, but did so without a building permit. The village required additional bollards once the car wash sought a permit.)

The independent engineer, Cauley said, called for stiffer requirements than HR Green. The engineer recommended crash-tested bollards that could withstand a 5,000-pound pickup truck going 40 mph.

The engineer also suggested moving the bollards farther from the sidewalk, nearly 3½ feet away, rather than 1 foot currently, Cauley said.

Additionally, Cauley said the bollards would go 42 inches underneath concrete, as advised.

"We bought those bollards. We did it on the village's credit card. We did it because we wanted to get this done as quickly as we can. We called the Fullers in and said we had already done this," Cauley said. "We've paid a premium to get them delivered quickly."

He said the village's lawyers have advised him that the village cannot legally revoke the car wash's special-use permit, which Hinsdale issued in 1995. The business, he said, has not violated any of the permit's conditions.

"I've had residents say, 'Violate your own rules. Take their special-use permit. Let them sue you,'" Cauley said. "We can't run a village like that. I have an obligation to uphold the zoning code."

Residents in the audience suggested the village put up some type of barriers to keep pedestrians off the sidewalk until the new bollards are installed. In response, Cauley said the village was willing to do that. As of Wednesday afternoon, no barriers had been put up.

The residents also said the village should have acted quicker and mandated Fuller's actions to protect pedestrians, rather than wait for the car wash's plans.

Cauley acknowledged that to an extent, saying, "I should have been on it for that" and that he felt bad that residents thought the village had not done its job. But he also said he was glad the new bollards weren't put up because now there is a better design.

"We are very sympathetic to the Richards family," Cauley told the audience. "We appreciate what you are saying. We agree with most of what you're saying."

He also described the car wash owners' reactions to the village's requirements.

"They are very cooperative," he said. "They will do whatever we ask of them. They are not pushing back on this. I told them that you are going to have to rip up those bollards and put in new ones. It's going to cost you a lot of money. You'll put in a lot of concrete, and they said, 'We'll do it.'"

Residents have noted the car wash has been parking customers' cars on the sidewalk for at least the last 27 years, violating the village code. The evidence is reflected in Google Maps photos and a 1997 warning letter to the business.

Cauley said the police chief sent a letter this year to Fuller's reminding the business that it can't park on the sidewalk. And he said the chief warned the police would ticket the business for any violations.

At the April meeting, Kristine Richards said the village was "complicit" in what happened last year because of the more than 15-year history of crashes at Fuller's.

But Cauley said at Tuesday's meeting that he was unaware of any crashes at Fuller's until the one last year. The Village Board, he said, is not told about every crash.

"There are accidents with people going through storefronts in the central business district all the time," Cauley said.

Fuller's, which has a chain of car washes in the Chicago area, has not returned messages for comment. Patch left the latest message in person with an employee at Fuller's Hinsdale location.

On July 17, Sean Patrick Richards was walking on the sidewalk next to Fuller's from the orthodontist's office to the library when a 16-year-old Fuller's employee hit him. The worker ended up crashing into Fontano's Subs, 9 S. Lincoln St., which is across the street, injuring three people.

Richards died three days later.