Northwestern Medicine seeks variance for taller monument sign at Marianjoy site; hearing officer to recommend in July

The DuPage County Zoning Hearing Officer, Robert Carthell, called case 25O34 for Northwestern Medicine Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital seeking multiple sign variances for its campus entrance on Roosevelt Road and Community Drive. The petition requests a height variance for a masonry monument sign from the permitted 6 feet to approximately 13 feet 11 inches, allowance for two monument signs at the site and a modest increase in permitted copy area for two monument signs from 48 square feet to about 50 square feet. Carthell said the site is about 63 acres and that notice appeared in the Daily Herald on June 3, 2025.

Attorney Caitlin Culbertson of LRAD Friedman and project manager Carrick Oldsbury represented the petitioner. Culbertson told the hearing the application is part of an entryway and signage upgrade; the project will place matching signage on both corners of Community Drive. Because the site border’s one corner runs along the City of Wheaton, Culbertson said the petitioner will seek corresponding relief from Wheaton for the sign on that corner. Culbertson also noted the proposed sign is slightly shorter than an existing sign on the property by about five inches despite exceeding the ordinance height limit.

Carthell said he had received no objections from the circulated authorities. The applicant provided a survey, site plan, an attorney’s letter and detailed sign drawings for the record. Both witnesses were sworn and testified; Carthell indicated the narrative submitted with the application addressed the practical-difficulty standard for a variance and that he understood the petitioner’s rationale.

No final decision was issued at the hearing. Carthell closed the oral record and said he would issue a written recommendation at the July 2 recommendation meeting; that recommendation will then proceed to the County Development Committee and the full county board for final action.

Discussion vs. decision: testimony described the sign program, its purpose for wayfinding and emergency access, and coordination with Wheaton for a second sign. No vote or permit issuance occurred at the hearing; Carthell reserved the formal recommendation for the July meeting.

Ending: Carthell closed the hearing and scheduled a written recommendation for July 2; any final permit will be contingent on committee and full board action.