Crystal Lake residents keep up fight against trucking company expansion plan

More than a dozen Crystal Lake residents gathered Wednesday evening at the Algonquin Township Building and sat in a circle. They were all there for one of a series of weekly meetings they’ve been holding in efforts to stop a trucking company from expanding to within feet of their backyards.

Crystal Lake-based logistics and truck repair company NVA Transportation, located at 7013 Sands Road, first proposed a request to rezone in July in order to expand the business by more than 20 acres. The proposal to the city includes parking spaces for more than 300 semi trucks and a new 33,000-square-foot building, according to city documents.

“It’s ridiculous that we’re having this conversation when they are three to five feet from a neighbor’s house,” resident Kevin McVearry said.

The initial proposal called for a 50-feet landscaped buffer between the business and adjacent homes, and a company representative said they’re willing to negotiate on that point, but the residents’ concerns remain.

McVearry acts as an unofficial leader of the group and strategizes with his neighbors. They bounce around ideas on how to prove that the expansion would create air, water and noise pollution, along with traffic and safety impacts.

NVA Trucking was scheduled to appear before the Crystal Lake planning and zoning commission on Oct. 18 but asked for a delay to create a revised plan, including a traffic study. The next rezoning attempt is set for the Nov. 15 commission meeting, Crystal Lake City Planner Elizabeth Maxwell said.

This is the second delay request NVA Transportation has made. The company was originally scheduled to appear at a September meeting. McVearry said he thinks it’s the company’s attempt to make residents lose interest.

“That’s the tough part,” he said. “We’re trying to rally everybody together.”

Attorney Mark Daniel, representing NVA Transportation, said they needed the extra time to present a revised plan that addresses certain resident concerns.

“We’ll have some fencing and landscaping that they’ll be able to see that’s enhanced compared to the last plans that were submitted,” Daniel said.

NVA Transportation will also have testimonials and reports on the expansion’s environmental impacts, Daniel said.

“It’ll be in compliance with all [Environmental Protection Agency] standards and any county and local standards,” he said.

NVA Transportation first presented the rezoning request to the Crystal Lake planning and zoning commission on July 19. More than 100 residents attended, with dozens speaking about their concerns.

“NVA acquiring land that was zoned out of favor for their profitable desires is not a hardship,” resident Brian Anders said at the meeting. “We are the ones facing the hardship.”

Neighbors started an online petition in July before the company presented the rezoning request to the city. Now, the Change.org petition has more than 1,200 signatures.

Despite months of delays, the neighbors continue to organize. Along with weekly meetings, they communicate on a Facebook group and created a website called SaveSandsRoad.com.

Residents are looking at other ways the expansion could affect Crystal Lake including potential flooding and increased traffic.

Neighbors first felt the effects of the proposed expansion when the woodlands behind their homes were removed last October by the company without warning, they said. More than 150 trees were removed to clear space for the proposed expansion.

“We have a swing set in the back, we have little kids, we have pets,” resident Jen Walker said. “We were just, for lack of a better word, traumatized by this.”

After the Nov. 15 meeting, NVA Transportation will hold a separate public meeting to connect with neighbors to further the conversation, Daniel said.

“We should have that meeting so the people have a full understanding whether or not they agree with the project,” he said.

The story has been updated to correct that a 50-feet landscape barrier would be placed between the business and adjacent homes.