250-seat event venue could be headed to Hinckley

SYCAMORE – Jessica Anderson and her husband, Scot, are asking the DeKalb County Board to support their plan to operate an event venue on Somonauk Road near Hinckley.

Anderson said she and her husband “love being of service” to the community. The pair first conjured the idea of owning and operating an event space after she heard an Aurora area high school did not have a place to hold its prom.

“We thought about this and we’ve always wanted to open an event space, primarily for weddings, but why can’t we extend this to different groups as well?” Jessica Anderson said to county officials during a public hearing on the development plans Thursday.

The Anderson’s zoning proposal will go before the DeKalb County Board in January for a vote.

According to county documents, the property located at 10256 Somonauk Road in Hinckley would become an event rental space for weddings, special events, parties, craft fair space, booth rentals, farmers market space, corporate events and fundraiser dances. The venue would not host guests overnight.

Jessica Anderson said people she’s spoken to in the village of Hinckley support the approval of the event venue. She also said the project would work in the designated area once rezoned. She said she and her husband are prepared and committed to comply with all permitting processes.

The special use zoning request the Andersons submitted to the DeKalb County government would rezone the space from agricultural use to commercial use for the business.

According to application materials provided by DeKalb County, the Andersons spoke to former longtime District 70 state legislator Bob Pritchard, one of the closest neighbors to the property, and he has endorsed the idea.

Jessica Anderson, who has worked at Olive Garden restaurants for almost 25 years, said she thinks her line of work will help her find the best employees for the proposed event venue.

“We do have two temporary staff members and are looking for more,” she said. “The great thing about working in the restaurant industry is I have them hand picked, so I know exactly who can handle events like this and who has the best experience.”

If the couple’s request is approved, the event venue could host as many as 250 attendees at a time, and those guests could attend an event starting as early as 9 a.m.

During her presentation, Anderson said deliveries would not occur until after 9 a.m., something county Community Development Director Derek Hiland said he thinks is a “good neighbor policy.”

Jessica Anderson said event music would be cutoff 30 minutes before the end of an event. Hiland asked if there was a hard time limit for music to be shut off.

“During the week, which we would designate as Sunday through Thursday, music would stop by 9:30 p.m. and on weekends – Friday and Saturday – would be 10:30 p.m.,” she said.