Commission continues hearing on banquet-hall conditional use at 1428 West Glen Flora Avenue

The Waukegan Planning and Zoning Commission on May 8 continued a conditional use permit request that would allow Club Apaseo El Alto to operate a banquet hall at 1428 West Glen Flora Avenue, citing unresolved issues including parking capacity, occupancy limits, restroom facilities and food-handling oversight.

Sam Lapine, associate planner, presented zoning calendar 2782 and said the applicant, Club Apaseo El Alto, seeks to convert approximately half of the building to banquet use. Lapine told the commission the site is in Ward 5 and that the applicant has a preexisting parking agreement for an auxiliary lot; the proposed layout shows roughly 27 parking spaces with an auxiliary agreement, and Lapine included a condition requiring an updated parking agreement be provided to the city. He reported staff had received a written objection from Joan S. Welton on behalf of Raymond F. Goodbody and listed staff conditions that would attach to any approval, including noise controls, maintenance of landscaping, and prohibitions on on-site storage of unrelated vehicles and materials.

The written objection from Joan S. Welton, read into the record by Lapine, raised several concerns: the letter said the proposed building capacity of 200 persons "seems high for area set aside for banquet area," questioned the adequacy of restroom facilities and hand-washing for food handlers, argued 27 parking spaces are inadequate compared with the prior ordinance requirement of 67, and described observed littering and instances of vehicles parking in restricted areas. Lapine told the commission the Fire Department had indicated the entire building capacity is somewhat above 300 but staff did not have a capacity estimate for only the portion to be used as a banquet hall.

Owner Armando Pena, sworn, described the request as necessary to raise funds after losing a grant and to support the organization's community work, including a food pantry that staff and volunteers said serves 300–400 families on weekends. Several neighbors and volunteers spoke: Joan S. Welton (representing 1504 West Glen Flora) testified on safety, restroom capacity and parking; Michael Smith (resident at 1515 West Glen Flora) described concerns about overflow parking and pedestrian safety; Gloria Gomez, Karina Diaz, Esperanza and others testified in support of Pena and described crowd-control practices used for the food pantry. Pena said he would obtain required licenses and hire security as needed and asked the commission to consider the community benefits of his programs.

Commissioners identified outstanding issues they considered material to the decision: (1) whether the proposed operation would endanger public health, safety, comfort or welfare; (2) whether the use would injure enjoyment or property values of nearby parcels; and (3) whether ingress/egress and traffic measures would adequately minimize congestion. Commissioner Haines moved to continue the hearing to the July 10, 2025 commission meeting to allow the applicant to work with staff to address those points; Commissioner Hague seconded and the motion to continue carried with a roll-call vote in favor. Staff confirmed the continuation was agreeable and told the applicant to work with the department to resolve items including parking, occupancy details, evidence of required health- and fire-related permits and any additional site-plan modifications.