Crusader Customs coming back to council with new conditions

JOLIET – Resident Tom Boucher made a case against a customized car shop at 2409 W. Jefferson St., but the city’s zoning board and plan commission gave their approval to the plan.

Crusader Customs in February moved into the former auto parts store for retail sales of custom car parts and accessories.

The business is looking for city approval for the permit needed to customize cars and sell them on-site.

Boucher called the business “a body shop for hot rod automobiles” and said it would detract from plans to redevelop the area around Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center.

“At the end of the day, we’re talking about an area that the city has designated for major investment and development,” Boucher said in prepared comments made Thursday to the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Plan Commission.

An email from Boucher prompted a debate at the city council, which in January rejected a permit for the business, contending it was not right for the site.

Crusader Customs has come back for the permit, proposing several conditions that would restrict car sales to the rear of the property. The business also wants to downzone the site from its current industrial zoning. The zoning board gave preliminary approval to the special use permit, and the plan commission agreed to the downzoning to general business.

The city council is slated to vote on the plan again April 3.

“We are not a body shop,” attorney Michael Hansen, who represents Crusader Customs, told the plan commission.

Hansen said only customized cars would be sold at the business. He also said the downzoning is more compatible with Jefferson Street business than the industrial zoning now on the property.

Hansen also said businesses on both side of Crusader Customs agree with the proposed use of the property.

The location is just outside of a tax increment financing district that has been created to encourage redevelopment in the area around Presence Saint Joseph Medical Center.

The store was vacant before Crusader Customs acquired it to expand its business, which previously was located at 1020 W. Jefferson St.