Village board approves zoning relief for two Amazon service buildings at Cellular Drive site

Village trustees voted Oct. 6 to direct staff and the village attorney to prepare final documents granting zoning relief to Amazon for two small service buildings at the company’s 1455 West Cellular Drive site.

The petitioner sought two zoning actions: an amendment to the existing planned unit development (PUD) to permit multiple principal buildings on a single lot, and a variation from the requirement to submit a new traffic and parking study. Director Rodman told the board the site is a roughly 20-acre property currently zoned M-1 and that the comprehensive plan supports research, development, manufacturing and warehouse uses.

Proposed buildings: staff described 1) an automated vehicle-inspection building — a drive-through, sensor-based structure of about 1,742 square feet where vans would be checked for items such as tire pressure and basic maintenance — and 2) a roughly 5,000-square-foot fleet service center on the southwest portion of the site for light maintenance (oil, fluid checks, brake checks). The fleet building is intended to service only vehicles assigned to that site; staff said no external vehicles will be brought to the facility for service.

Parking and traffic: Amazon currently has 711 parking stalls on site; village code requires 491 stalls for the operation. Under the proposal, after removing some stalls for the fleet facility, the site would contain 685 stalls — 194 stalls above the village minimum. Staff and the Plan Commission concluded the changes would not materially increase traffic or parking demand, so they recommended approval of both the PUD amendment and the variation from a new study requirement. The Plan Commission’s recommendation was unanimous.

Board action and timing: Trustee Santa Maria moved and Trustee Schwingbeck seconded the motion to direct staff and the village attorney to prepare final documents granting the requested zoning relief subject to conditions in the packet; the motion passed. Staff said construction depends on permitting but is most likely next year.

Ending: Trustees asked technical questions about mechanical equipment shown in renderings and whether the buildings would draw outside fleet traffic; staff confirmed they would not.