The McHenry County Zoning Board of Appeals on Oct. 23 continued a contested hearing on petition C25-0028, in which GLG Solutions Inc. seeks a conditional use permit for an outdoor truck-storage yard and two variances for property on Illinois Route 20 in Marengo.

The applicant asked to store semi tractors and trailers not owned by the property owner or tenant and to use reclaimed asphalt grindings instead of paved surfaces in portions of the storage area. Elizabeth Biffner, attorney for the petitioner, told the board: "The petitioner is requesting that conditional use and those variances to store those semi trucks for short term purposes, while they are in line for repairs or while drivers may be out of town for brief stints on vacation." Senior planner Anna Kurtzman said the underlying repair-shop use is allowed by right in the B-3 district and the hearing is limited to the proposed outdoor storage conditional use and the two requested variances.

Petitioner witnesses described the proposed development. Owner testimony and project documents show the site comprises four parcels totaling 10.2 acres, has four PIN numbers, and sits on the east side of Route 20 about 1,500 feet south of Church Road in Coral Township. The site plan provided to the board shows a six-bay repair building with an adjoining parts warehouse, about 47 standard employee/visitor parking spaces (including two handicapped spaces), nine bobtail spaces and roughly 62 trailer spaces. The applicant said about 15 of the trailer spaces would be dedicated to the repair business and the remaining trailer stalls would be for short-term storage.

On operations, the petitioner said storage would be short term (typically days to a few weeks while trucks wait for repair or when drivers are on leave), that a security gate and video surveillance would control access outside normal business hours, and that lighting would be limited and intended for security rather than retail-style display. Engineer Jim Condon said the project team submitted right-in/right-out geometry and truck-turning plans to the Illinois Department of Transportation and that "IDOT has, preliminarily approved" the location and geometry; he added final IDOT approval is required at permitting.

Several technical and ordinance compliance gaps prompted the board to continue the hearing. Staff and board members noted that the county's principal-use standards for a storage yard require that outdoor storage areas be "restricted to those areas so designated on the site plan" and, where adjacent to nonindustrial zoning, to be enclosed by a six-foot solid fence with openings only for ingress and egress. The record included a staff memo (Renee Hamlin) that advised the southern storage area must be fenced; the applicant agreed to provide a revised site plan showing the storage-area boundary and gate location. The site plan also must be revised to make plain which parking stalls are reserved for the repair business versus the conditional-use storage yard.

Stormwater and drainage were another focus. The engineering testimony described a detention basin at the south property line sized to county stormwater standards, with swales and restricted release rates; the engineer said the basin will be similar to other shallow, vegetated (wet) detention basins in the county and will ultimately drain under Route 20 through existing culverts. A nearby property owner asked whether the detention basin would flood adjacent land; Condon said the basin is sized to county requirements and is designed to manage up to major storm events, and that McHenry County stormwater staff will review final calculations during permitting.

Nearby residents and business owners questioned noise, lighting, truck queuing and safety. Ron Schroeder of Schroeder Asphalt asked, "What's gonna happen to all this water? Is my property gonna flood out?" Coral Township Trustee Cindy Rafkind and other neighbors asked about traffic and whether a traffic-impact study was required; the project team said WT Group prepared geometry and that, based on projected volumes, IDOT has not required a separate traffic-impact study to date but that IDOT would require one if the agency determined it necessary at permit review.

Board members repeatedly returned to the ordinance standards. One member said the petition "is not addressing all the things that are necessary under our ordinance," noting missing the site-plan designation for the storage yard and the lack of a shown six-foot screening fence. The applicant agreed to submit a revised site plan; as a result the board did not vote on the petition and continued the hearing to allow the applicant to furnish the requested materials and for staff review.

The board set the continuation for Nov. 6, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. in the same room. Until the revised site plan and any supplemental materials are submitted, the board said it will not take a final vote. The applicant and staff were instructed to address the fence and storage-area delineation, lighting levels at the property line, IDOT permits for the right-in/right-out access, and final stormwater design in the revised materials.

The hearing record includes published notice and service documents: a publisher's certificate of publication dated Aug. 19, 2025, an affidavit of mailing dated Aug. 14, 2025, and an affidavit of posting dated Aug. 20, 2025, which staff said meet ordinance notice requirements.