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Zoning board backs special-use request to expand ATV sales and service on North 15th Road
Summary
The LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals recommended the County Board approve a special-use permit to expand an existing ATV sales and service shop at 2498 North 15th Road in Allen Township; staff confirmed the application meets standards and the petition will go to the County Board on March 10.
The LaSalle County Zoning Board of Appeals on Feb. 19 recommended that the County Board approve a special-use petition to expand an existing all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) sales and service shop at 2498 North 15th Road in Allen Township.
The petitioner, identified in the hearing as representing the Joyce A. Tulte Trust, sought permission to expand an existing nonconforming commercial building attached to an existing white shop building. Petitioner Brian Palti told the board he planned to add a 54-by-104-foot addition to the south, attached to the current 54-by-80-foot showroom and repair building. “What the new addition is going to be for … is cold storage. It’s going to be for storing ATVs and Rangers that naturally won’t fit in the showroom,” Palti said during his presentation.
The request is necessary because the business is a legal nonconforming use in an A-1 agricultural district: it existed before the 2006 zoning rules that now prohibit that type of commercial use in A‑1. Brian Gipp, LaSalle County land use director, summarized the application and explained the mechanism: “That type of business would not be allowed in the A‑1 District, so it’s currently legal nonconforming. This provision allows the expansion of a nonconforming use by a special use,” he said.
Board members questioned site details and impacts. Palti said a previously discussed lean-to was removed from the plan because the contractor’s later price was too high and that the addition would not encroach on a field drainage tile: “There’s a 12‑inch main put in there … I should be at least 40, 50 feet from that tile,” he said. The petitioner also confirmed the new structure will be attached to the existing building.
County staff told the board the application, as presented, met the county zoning ordinance standards applicable to special uses. After completing the required finding-of-fact review under Section 14.1‑5 of the LaSalle County Zoning Ordinance, the board voted to recommend approval to the County Board. The board recorded a unanimous recommendation and the petition is scheduled to be presented to the County Board on March 10.
No written correspondence from neighbors was received, and no members of the public offered testimony at the hearing.
The board’s recommendation to the County Board is advisory; final approval will be decided by the LaSalle County Board at the March 10 meeting.
