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Downtown mixed‑use project stalls after trustees reject site plan following traffic, parking and financing concerns
Summary
A proposed 6‑story, mixed‑use development at 7952 Lincoln Avenue failed to win board approval after extended trustee and public questioning about traffic, parking, IDOT permits, unit mix and developer financing; plan‑commission recommendations had included a five‑year build deadline that trustees shortened and conditioned but the site‑plan motion ultimately failed.
Trustees declined to concur with Plan Commission recommendations for a mixed‑use project at 7952 Lincoln Avenue after more than two hours of board questioning and extensive public comment about traffic, parking and developer readiness.
The applicant sought site plan approval, subdivision and a special‑use (proportionate exception) for a project composed of a renovated commercial building housing a restaurant and an Action Behavior Center (ABC) and a proposed six‑story mixed‑use building with 58 residential units (predominantly studios and one‑bedrooms), ground‑floor retail and a four‑season outdoor dining area.
Plan Commission Chair Paul Luke and the project team described the proposal, the requested zoning relief (reduced parking stall width and aisle, reduced guest parking via shared parking agreement, and a reduced minimum building height in one frontage location) and a staff‑recommended condition that residential construction and occupancy certificates be completed within five years. The applicant team said the restaurant and ABC space would be brought forward more quickly and that the larger residential building required additional permitting from IDOT and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), which the applicant said could delay construction.
Trustees and dozens of public commenters raised traffic and safety concerns related to left‑turn restrictions and peak parking during theater events, the loss of an informal parking area behind Bank of America (used historically for theater patrons), and the risk that valet operations would move vehicles off‑site, increasing local parking pressures. Trustee Paul Pierce Slobin, Trustee Schechter and others questioned the unit mix (72% studios/one‑bedrooms) and whether that mix meets the village’s housing goals for family‑sized units. Several residents urged a pause and requested independent traffic analyses and escrowed funds to pay third‑party studies.
Trustees also added two amendments during the hearing: a precondition that no building or occupancy permits be issued until the developer demonstrates, to the village’s satisfaction, that it has construction financing sufficient to complete the entire development within three years of ordinance adoption; and an amendment shortening the residential completion deadline from five years to three years. After the amendments passed, a final roll‑call on the site plan motion failed (ayes recorded by Trustees Pierce Slobin and Alyssa Lisonbee Levy; multiple trustees voted no) and the site plan did not carry. Because the subdivision and special‑use votes were dependent on the site plan, they were not taken.
Mayor Tennis said the board will not consider the related subdivision and special‑use cases because the site plan did not pass. Project proponents and staff noted that the developer and village will continue dialogue, but no approvals were granted at the Dec. 1 meeting.
