City Votes Against ROLC Zoning

A motion to approve a proposed Residential, Office and Limited Commercial zoning district failed Tuesday night with a 2-6 vote by the Naperville City Council.

The Naperville Plan Commission voted unanimously in September to approve the recommendation, which would have created a ROLC zoning district. City staff members could have assigned such a district to unincorporated lands falling within the planning boundary — a section near the 75th Street Corridor and Plank Road — to create a transition area between residential and commercial properties.

Councilman Richard Furstenau was among those voting against the zoning district, saying he didn't want it to be applied to other areas of the city.

"I think it's kind of like a loose cannon bouncing around," he said. "You don't know where it might end up."

A ROLC property could have been made residential under the zoning laws, according to council documents. But those wanting to develop commercial buildings would have needed approval and conditional use permits from the council and planning commission to do so.

Modifications to the original proposal limited building heights within the zoning district. If the district would have been approved, structures would not have been able to exceed 40 feet at their highest points.

About five community members voiced their disapproval for the proposed zoning district prior to the council's vote Tuesday. They were all long-time residents living near Plank Road or east of Tuthill Road, where a study for the ROLC zoning district was proposed. They were concerned that mixed residential and commercial sites might lead to significant commercial development and traffic in residential areas, and Councilman Paul Hinterlong agreed.

"I don't agree with the setbacks it could create," he said. "If somebody wants to bring commercial to this area, it's … on them to try and sell it to us. I do not believe this is doing anyone any justice."

Councilman James Boyajian favored the ROLC district because he said he thought it would apply well to the Plank Road area.

"It provides much more prescriptive and restrictive provisions on how a business or a mixed-use development would go in," he said. "I think that has some strong characteristics and some good points. I just don't see what we're afraid of with this."

Councilwoman Judith Brodhead also supported the zoning district.

"There are a number of cases in which a kind of blending of different uses is desirable," she said. "This actually provides some guidelines and some strengthening of the kinds of things the city would be looking for in case there were mixed zonings."