Empty Joliet Convenience Store Will Have A New Life Thanks To Glenda McCullum

JOLIET, IL — At Tuesday night's meeting, the Joliet City Council will vote on a special use permit for former Joliet City Council candidate Glenda McCullum, who is redeveloping an empty storefront on the city's southeast side.

According to a Council memo from community development director Dustin Anderson, the special use permit would allow for the opening of a new community center within a single-family residential district. It would go at 111 McDonough Street, near the corner of DesPlaines Street.

The Council memo indicates Glenda McCullum wants to establish a community center at 111 McDonough Street.

"The proposed community center will offer tutoring, mentoring, arts programs, and other services for the nearby community. Uses such as this community center are allowed within residential districts as a special use with a recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals," Anderson's memo explains.

The community center would operate from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The existing property has sufficient parking for the intended use with 26 parking spaces. The property was originally zoned B-1, Neighborhood Business, according to the 1968 zoning map. It was rezoned to its current R-2, Single-Family Residential, designation in 2004 and was granted a variation of use to operate as a neighborhood store, Anderson noted.

"Staff finds that the request meets the following special use criteria: the establishment and operation of the special use will not be detrimental to public health and safety, nor will it impede the normal and orderly development and improvement of the surrounding property. The subject site is adjacent to a residential neighborhood but is served by a main thoroughfare, and the proposed use is complementary to the existing uses in the neighborhood," Anderson advised the Council.