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Wilmette zoning board endorses station’s car wash request
Updated: August 8, 2012 9:14AM
If Wilmette trustees second an Aug. 1 decision by the village’s zoning board of trustees, a Lake Avenue Shell station owner will be able to install a one-lane car wash at his west Wilmette gas station.
Zoning board members split 4-2 on the decision, which granted zoning variances and a special use permit for the operation at 3501 Lake Ave., just west of the Edens Expressway. Final approval by the village board would allow the car wash and transformation of the station’s existing service bays into a convenience store, Community Development John Adler said Tuesday.
Village trustees are expected to get the case for review at the Aug. 28 meeting, he said.
Some area residents who attended the Aug. 1 hearing told the zoning board they were worried that traffic around the station would become worse under the proposal, he added. They also worried about how much noise the car wash might generate.
This isn’t the first time the station property has come before the zoning board, Adler said; previous owners requested zoning changes several years ago, but did not follow through on planned projects.
