Westmont planners propose lower minimums, new design standards in parking rewrite

Westmont planning staff and commissioners spent the bulk of the June 25 Planning and Zoning Commission special meeting reviewing proposed changes to Article 9 (parking regulations) in the village’s draft zoning ordinance.

The discussion focused on three headline changes: reduced minimum stall dimensions, recalculated minimum parking requirements for some uses, and new parking‑lot design and landscaping standards. "We have reduced the parking requirements for... multiunit residential properties," Senior Planner Scott Williams said, and staff proposed changing the minimum stall size "from 10 by 20 feet and reduced it to 9 by 18 feet as the minimum." Williams also said the draft integrates parking‑lot design standards from engineering specifications and adds stacking requirements for drive‑throughs.

The commissioners and staff explained why several calculation methods are under review. Williams said staff is reconsidering how to measure requirements for large warehouses and manufacturing: "we are looking at reexamining some of those numbers, likely to be less, not hinging directly on employee count and more on overall space." Commissioners noted a tension between designing for the first user versus the long life of a building: Commissioner Donahue observed that buildings often outlast tenants and that undersized parking can make buildings difficult to reuse. The commission discussed using square footage for warehouse calculations but acknowledged tradeoffs because some warehouse space is non‑occupiable storage.

On rounding and fractional requirements, Williams confirmed staff would round up when the calculation results in a fraction. Commissioners raised use‑specific concerns: "I think there should be more parking required for health and fitness centers," Commissioner Peterson said, citing crowding at class‑oriented studios such as Orangetheory. Commissioners discussed separating fitness “studios” (higher, class‑peak demand) from larger gyms for parking calculations.

Staff signaled several near‑term policy clarifications: exemptions for older multi‑tenant centers will remain, parking islands will be required for lots larger than 20 spaces, and staff plans to rework how change‑of‑use and small shortfalls are handled. Williams described a proposed tolerance so that a use within 20% of the on‑site requirement could proceed without a variance request. "We're implementing language ... if you're within 20% of what the requirement is on‑site, we can allow the use without them coming in for a variance," he said.

Public comments and commissioner examples framed the tradeoffs. Commissioners cited local sites (Ogden Avenue shopping centers, the Market Center at "60 Third and Cass") to show how initial design assumptions — for example, designing for a movie theater — produce oversupply, while other conversions (restaurants in small strip centers) can create localized spillover to adjacent neighborhoods. The commission emphasized that variances and the special‑use process would remain an available remedy: "We're trying to give the building longevity over the life of the building," Commissioner Donahue said, "but if it is a very different use than was there before, we can rescrutinize the parking."

Next steps: staff will revise Article 9 and present updated numbers at the July 23 continuation of the public hearing. Williams told the commission he expects "significant revisions to that section coming in July." No formal action on Article 9 was taken at the June 25 meeting.

The discussion highlighted persistent tensions between business‑friendliness, long‑term building flexibility, and neighborhood spillover. Commissioners repeatedly asked staff to compare Westmont’s new figures with neighboring communities, and staff agreed to prepare those comparisons and to return with revised language and tables at the next hearing.