Truck terminal expansion starts in Crystal Lake – despite City Council’s rejection last year

A truck terminal expansion has begun in Crystal Lake, despite the City Council denying an earlier rezoning request made by NVA Transportation.

After its plans were unanimously denied by the City Council last year, NVA Transportation, at 7013 Sands Road, has since August been pursuing building permits and another planned-unit development that work within its current zoning. Originally proposed as a logistics operation, NVA modified its plans.

The fact that a tweaked truck terminal expansion is moving forward, even though the city rejected the earlier version, has confused and frustrated nearby residents who have organized to fight the proposal and have closely monitored the situation.

Some neighbors appeared at a City Council meeting Tuesday evening to voice their opposition and asked if there is anything the council can do.

“We have a lot of questions that haven’t been answered,” resident Jane Jorgensen said. “We are not architects; we are not designers of plans. Several of us came and tried to look at them to figure out what is happening over there. We got some ideas, but it doesn’t look much different than what they initially proposed in this room that was absolutely denied.”

Neighboring resident Debbie Alcock said the increased trucks will be too much for Sands Road and the Metra railroad tracks that cross over Sands Road.

“They have 103 vehicles. We all thought they had about 50,” she said. “They want to add 284 more. Sands Road can’t handle that. The railroad tracks can’t handle it.”

Documents viewed by the Northwest Herald under the Freedom of Information Act show that the city issued a grading permit was issued to NVA Dec. 23. NVA plans to construct a 31,648-square-foot building – their earlier plan was for a 36,200 square feet – with a 50-foot landscape buffer and a 6-foot fence to the north, where homes are located.

City officials say the work currently being done on the site complies with local and county codes and doesn’t require a rezoning.

“Based on the modified plan and narrative the land use classification was determined to be warehousing distribution,” Community Development Director Kathryn Cowlin said in an email to the Northwest Herald. “Following the zoning determination, the city reviewed and issued a grading permit for work that is compliant with applicable city code and county stormwater development requirements.”

Warehousing is allowed in manufacturing zones and authorized as a “limited use” in manufacturing-limited districts, which is how the NVA property is currently zoned.

On Jan. 12, nine households neighboring the property submitted a formal request to the city to compel NVA to cease and desist any further development of this project immediately. The residents said they did not receive notice of work starting on the NVA property.

Mark Daniel, an attorney representing NVA, said the company “addressed the Nancy Road neighbors in private correspondence” and that the land grading, which started Jan. 2, is in compliance with local and state laws.

Resident Tim Jackowiak’s backyard is adjacent to the NVA property. He said it has “been a struggle to receive detailed responses from the city.”

“Twice now, adjacent property owners have been shocked to discover heavy machinery shaking their homes and industrial equipment operating mere feet away from the yards where our pets and children play. While NVA’s lack of advanced notification has been disappointing, the city’s lack of clear and direct communication regarding this project has been more disappointing,” he said in an email to the Northwest Herald. “What’s transpired feels like an abuse of process and a dismissal of very real safety and environmental concerns.”

Much of the residents’ frustration is that the project is moving forward despite a denial by the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. However, as long as developers follow the rules and meet building codes, there is only so much a city can do to say no against a plan, despite the amount of resident resentment.

Nearby residents' major concerns include increased truck traffic, effects on well water, potential flooding and noise and light pollution. Residents organized against the expansion, creating the website SaveSandsRoad.com, and an online petition to stop the rezoning has more than 1,900 signatures.

NVA originally asked for approval to build a 36,200-square-foot freight terminal with 324 truck parking spaces on its 22-acre property. The proposal for the structure included seven service bays, indoor loading docks and areas for storage, offices and a warehouse. Rezoning was required for the plan because it involved a larger portion of undeveloped property, and NVA characterized its use as a “logistics operation,” according to city documents.

NVA still is in the process of finalizing permits for the building, Daniel said, adding NVA will work with the city to comply with current zoning ordinances.

“There is a large area to the north that will be undeveloped compared to the plans presented at the zoning hearing,” Daniel said.