[0:00] we're here
to consider
[0:02] a zoning change for approximately 30
acres of belmoral park from a commercial
[0:08] designation which uh basically
recognizes entertainment and
[0:13] entertainment venue to a industrial
zoning and it's the lowest
[0:18] classification of zoning but it would
allow for
[0:22] truck storage my name is richard
kavanagh i'm an attorney in joliet with
[0:26] the offices of kgg llc i represent
balmoral park 21 llc kiki dobre cinovich
[0:34] is here she is the daughter of the owner
the owner could not make it here tonight
[0:38] several months ago we went through a
process for
[0:42] temporary use permits
for the parking of cars and trucks on
[0:49] the south parking lot those two
temporary use permits were granted for
[0:55] the temporary parking of those trucks
temporary use permits last for 179 days
[1:02] one of the things that we have done is
filed an application for a map amendment
[1:07] from
c6 which is
[1:10] an entertainment commercial type of use
to i1 with two special use permits the
[1:18] first special use permit is for a truck
terminal it's defined as a facility
[1:24] primarily used for the parking
storage
[1:30] dispatching
maintenance of
[1:34] trucks semi trucks
semi-trailers the second special use
[1:39] which we're requesting is a special use
for outdoor storage under outdoor
[1:46] storage we could park cars there
but we couldn't park trucks there so
[1:52] we're asking for two special uses and
with a spout you can't put conditions on
[1:58] zoning
but you can put conditions on special
[2:02] uses
the owner of balmoral park
[2:06] owns a trucking business that business
has gone like this because of the
[2:12] pandemic all of the problems with the
supply chain he owns 500 trucks
[2:18] usually
400 or so of them are going to be out on
[2:22] the open road that isn't the case
anymore a lot of truck drivers have quit
[2:27] because they get more money on
unemployment compensation they don't
[2:33] have to pay the higher prices of diesel
etc etc that's why all the trucks
[2:38] started parking down there he had no
space on his facility and summit so
[2:43] again we're asking for two special use
permits if we up wind up in a situation
[2:48] again
where we have a supply chain issue
[2:52] that's basically what we're asking for
the property is paying
[2:56] roughly ninety thousand dollars a year
in property taxes
[3:00] school district benefits substantial
district
[3:04] creep money
the township highway department
[3:08] the township fire protection district
will county the will county forest
[3:12] preserve district
saying the same taxes that you pay and
[3:17] if you live in the village of crete
they don't pay property taxes to the
[3:22] village but if the property were in the
village of crete would be at the village
[3:26] of crete tonight instead of here my
clients would like to go back to racing
[3:32] it's not going to work right now we'd
love it yeah it's not going to work
[3:36] right now
so we're only asking that the south
[3:39] parking lot be rezoned to i1 and then
the special use permit on that south
[3:46] parking lot
for again two separate things
[3:49] a truck terminal which is as i defined
it
[3:53] and then
outdoor storage
[3:56] and that would be automobiles equipment
stuff like that the rest of
[4:00] the race track still remains
entertainment and if it were to open
[4:04] again
you could continue to park automobiles
[4:08] as an accessory use for events at the
racetrack there were several car haulers
[4:14] going up and down the road at more than
the posted speed limit and they
[4:17] shouldn't be on that road period because
there is a weight limit on that road i
[4:20] absolutely agree with you and i do
believe that because i'm a truck driver
[4:23] i know how it is and how it goes they
look at their gps they turn towards
[4:28] return short assistance you're right and
when you get to the end of the road the
[4:31] route one they're going to take out the
fence they're going to take out light
[4:33] poles and et cetera et cetera et cetera
and fall into the ditch and people i
[4:37] find my client here
gave every single mgr truck driver a
[4:44] statement saying stay off elms court
road
[4:48] go down to the v and come back if
they're on there they should be fined
[4:54] does the truck terminal include a truck
stop
[4:57] i.e restaurant lodging no no no no the
idea of a truck terminal it's only for
[5:03] mgr trucks it's not for other trucks
going up and down the highway to come in
[5:09] get gasoline or anything like that it's
only mgr's trucks but it is not for
[5:14] overnight stays or anything like that
both parking trucks
[5:20] now you're going to have all these
trucks and if they're going in and out
[5:23] 24 7 and all this pollution is coming up
we didn't sign up for this we don't want
[5:27] that by our neighborhood will they be
refueling there
[5:31] do you have any idea you don't do you
have tanks there
[5:34] no they will have to they have to
they're going to have to do you have any
[5:38] ideas to you know trip generations how
many
[5:42] ins and outs i i do not know
do you expect there to be an increase or
[5:48] a decrease you've noticed that there's
an increase in the number of trucks that
[5:52] are parked there now
that's that's a substantial number of
[5:56] his trucks because he doesn't have
drivers and then when the drivers come
[6:00] and go do they park their cars is there
a parking
[6:04] area with
[6:07] why do you need to have the zoning
changed why can't you just apply for the
[6:11] temporary permits
the temporary permits last 179 days you
[6:17] come back again
and again and again but you have to go
[6:21] through the same process again and again
and again
[6:24] one of the deals that was made to
open up casinos in chicago
[6:29] and then elsewhere in illinois one in
the south suburbs on
[6:32] 80 and halsted balmoral cannot have
gambling until 2026.
[6:40] i see no problem with just the trucks
just plain parking and they're shut off
[6:43] like like what's going on now but if
that was a terminal and i've seen what
[6:47] happens at truck stops and trucking
terminals and the traffic and the crime
[6:51] that will come there yep
and it's just
[6:54] all i can say is no beecher will not
hold the town of beecher will not even
[6:58] allow you to take your truck and drive
would say to the mcdonald's or a gas
[7:02] station in town also university park if
i came into town here and turn left on
[7:06] exchange i cannot go through university
park with a 53 foot long band trailer
[7:10] they would give me a ticket if they had
access off of 394 direct access perfect
[7:15] no problem it's a large road it's made
for trucks when the crete
[7:19] intermodal center was put on there is a
space between between 394 and route 1
[7:26] that is owned by the village
and that was going supposedly that was
[7:31] going to be for direct access onto
394. if they're having a problem getting
[7:36] truck drivers right now they're going to
hire the lowest grade of truck driver
[7:40] which are the people that just come out
of truck driving school
[7:43] it's it's very dangerous out there with
the new drivers
[7:46] extremely dangerous and they're going to
get all new drivers then apparently
[7:48] because they don't have drivers
don't hire new drivers no we require two
[7:53] years minimum experience
so
[7:56] so there's no difference between
commercial usage
[8:00] and industrial usage
the zoning is a designation of
[8:04] commercial and because it has a special
use use permit for truck storage it
[8:10] can be and is being taxed as
that use for truck storage even though
[8:16] it has a commercial zoning the company
made a commitment to keeping up the
[8:21] infrastructure and the grounds there on
the rest of the property because it's
[8:24] like 200 acres total right 222. they've
spent a lot of money there was a lot of
[8:28] vandalism
all right and the grandstand they've
[8:32] prepared most of that you're putting the
roof there no roofs on the grand stage
[8:36] the new roof is on the grand stand now
most of the sprinklers didn't work a
[8:41] number of the hydrants didn't work
those have all been repaired they've
[8:45] been doing a lot of work do you have a
security uh company going through and uh
[8:50] i thought that watching the carpet
special use that they had to have 24 7
[8:54] security there yes we have security we
had it there with the cars where we have
[8:58] cameras set up and we have workers there
every day
[9:02] do you know how many times i've been on
that property
[9:05] they're still interested in horse racing
we're extremely interested in horse
[9:10] racing
i
[9:12] suggest that he look into it you're
giving thought to other uses no we want
[9:16] to go back to horse racing is there a
date yet for it to come to the county
[9:22] my guess is it's going to be the 4th of
october i testified at the last hearing
[9:28] and voice
all of our objections so this has been
[9:32] going on not only since last year but
it's actually grown
[9:37] the amount of trucks the amount of cars
in the south parking lot the elmscourt
[9:42] lane directly across from belmoral is a
residential neighborhood trucks do use
[9:48] elm's court not only did they have used
elton's court there was an incident of a
[9:52] jackknife semi-trailer on elms court
lane not only did that snarl up
[9:58] obviously the entire street for several
hours but again concern about safety in
[10:04] a residential area i listed i think five
different objections the main one on
[10:09] public safety and concern about allen's
cork at the end of the day the the
[10:13] zoning commission
voted unanimously to grant the temporary
[10:18] use permit with the conditions which
included bills of lading on all of the
[10:24] shipments had to specifically include
language to say you cannot use helm's
[10:30] court lane also we had requested that
the fencing be covered so that you
[10:38] wouldn't have to look at that
partially partially uh chief panic of
[10:43] the
as i recollect of the cree township fire
[10:46] protection district did voice concerns
about that there wouldn't have to be
[10:50] anything john mentioned periodic
inspection inspections because they're
[10:54] concerned that you know make sure
there's no gas leakage anytime he has
[10:58] had a suggestion i have passed it on to
my clients and they've gone ahead and
[11:02] done it i've already voiced our
objections okay but so but trying to
[11:07] understand from the owner's perspective
they have a piece of property that they
[11:12] want to do something with i'm not my
voice we voiced objections against but
[11:16] nevertheless i think that's pretty much
where they're coming from this is their
[11:20] business they have a use for the
property i believe that it ultimately be
[11:25] up to the assessor and county assessor
but i suspect the property taxes will go
[11:30] up because now you're going from vacant
land to something that has usage
[11:34] so it is being used
and as a result of that the assessed
[11:38] value will i
believe will be going up which means
[11:42] property taxes are going up and as mr
cavanaugh had mentioned that would mean
[11:46] additional property taxes for the school
district all the various tax
[11:50] involvements i have no problem what are
the requirements
[11:52] is because we're asking for a
change in zoning
[11:57] the county doesn't allow split zoning on
a parcel so we have to file a petition
[12:03] to separate that south 30 acres off if
it gets the i1 zoning with the special
[12:10] uses
then absolutely it is right right right
[12:14] it will have its own
amazing it'll have its own
[12:17] it'll have its own pin and its own
assessment
[12:21] yeah if you were going to be doing for
example truck repair there then you
[12:27] would need a building it would have to
be sprinklered it'd have to be approved
[12:31] by the county will there be diesel fuel
tanks
[12:35] put in there
i'm not aware of any that would be if
[12:39] they were put in
if there if there were if there were
[12:43] diesel tanks put in they'd have to get
permits from the county to do it we
[12:48] don't have a problem with the trucks
being parked no terminal right we don't
[12:51] want that you're gonna have 100 trucks
or more coming in out of there you've
[12:54] got all these residents that have lived
there for 40 50 years
[12:59] they like the racetrack they don't want
a truck terminal
[13:02] they didn't move there to live by a
truck terminal
[13:05] you have options
we're not moving my only options are to
[13:10] leave it the way it is and come back
every 179 days
[13:15] and if you're good with that
if we could take make a note of that
[13:19] kiki
did you hear what they're saying is they
[13:23] don't have a problem with the outdoor
storage of the trucks they don't have a
[13:29] problem with that
[13:32] as outdoor storage
[13:37] you're going to guarantee us if it's
rezoned you're not going to do anything
[13:41] but park them trucks there we're zoned
for parking only that will never happen
[13:44] that'll never happen it'll never happen
guaranteed if you recently did for the
[13:48] parking of trucks it would fit the
definition of a truck terminal
[13:51] unfortunately
[Music]
[13:56] the residents would not like to see
results
[14:00] what we could do now is just list the uh
conditions under which the special use
[14:06] permit would be applied for again and or
if this
[14:11] does go
a temporary user
[14:15] right right yeah
the special use would allow
[14:19] we were to park trucks there
long term
[14:24] we would need a special use permit for a
truck terminal you can't park trucks
[14:31] because of the way they define truck
terminal i disagree with the way they
[14:34] define it but you can't park trucks
without a special use permit for a truck
[14:39] terminal even if it's only the parking
of trucks
[14:43] so let's do it now
i have a temporary use permit for truck
[14:48] parking that expires in 179 days the
ward terminal doesn't come in the
[14:54] definition of a truck terminal is a
facility principally used for
[14:59] the parking storage repair maintenance
or dispatch of trucks
[15:05] semi-trailers and buses
and truck tractors
[15:09] temporary permit they already have it
the temporary permit allows for parking
[15:13] only we could recommend conditions for
the special use
[15:19] of the truck terminals
we don't want a truck terminal right
[15:27] they're not making noise they're not
running they're not hurting anybody but
[15:30] that's how we're going to keep it but
just get the rezoning so we don't have
[15:33] to go through the whole process but once
you rezone it then you're able to build
[15:37] all the other stuff correct and that's
that
[15:42] after that happens by us any resulting
that would happen would also go with the
[15:47] property rezoning would go with the
property yes one of the concerns would
[15:50] be and special you may not be their
intent but if so
[15:54] the new owners
would have the would have they were the
[15:58] zoning they could do now
as much as the intent may not be there
[16:04] and special news
it's automatic
[16:08] if you request that it
run with the property so that if it's
[16:12] sold
then it'll run with the property but you
[16:16] can also put a condition on it that it's
only for the current owners keep doing
[16:20] your 179 days we don't care but we just
don't want the rezoning fixing the
[16:25] trucks and feeling the trucks and the
truck drivers sleeping in the truck
[16:28] starting 24 7. i'm not breathing that in
i shouldn't have to breathe that in and
[16:33] it will happen i moved there so i didn't
have to breathe in
[16:36] city craft the concerns that i've heard
one is
[16:40] the security and public safety not only
to the property but for the traffic on
[16:46] elms court lane and route one and round
one
[16:49] arlington laying there yeah
there's
[16:53] there's the maintenance of the property
there's the times of operation
[16:57] and whether or not any zoning would be
transferable to a future owner the
[17:03] zoning
is always transferable the special uses
[17:08] can be limited to the current owner then
we don't want the zoning change so if
[17:12] it's resolved that zoning automatically
gets transferred well we're going to
[17:17] present all of the
concerns that you have to our board we
[17:21] would probably say to the township board
that the special use permit for the
[17:27] for the terminal
should stay a temporary
[17:31] use permit and they just got to keep
renewing it we won't fight that security
[17:35] they're keeping the entire property up
even outside the fence we would then
[17:40] recommend that
the next time a temporary use permit
[17:45] comes up that these concerns be
addressed as a condition
[17:50] i don't think we would recommend
rezoning thank you thank you