Board recommends approval of variances for Ziegler Auto Campus to add Pagani showroom in Lake Bluff

A municipal review board recommended approval of requested variances permitting Ziegler Auto Group to renovate the former Ferrari Lake Forest building in Lake Bluff to create a Pagani showroom, add exterior signage along Waukegan Road and install nine additional parking spaces.

The presenter (identified in the transcript as Diane) described dedicating the western portion of the existing facility for Pagani and said Pagani "produces 1 of the most artistic, hand built, extreme performance cars in the world," noting fewer than 100 cars are built each year in Italy. She told the board the new Pagani entry would remove an existing residential-style portico, widen the opening to allow vehicles and people to enter, and that the new showroom entry footprint would be "16 square feet smaller" and set back an additional 6 feet from Waukegan Road compared with the existing portico.

The application includes an exterior ground sign on Waukegan Road to improve wayfinding; presenter materials showed a proposed brick-and-limestone base designed to match the building and to complement the existing Ferrari totem at the courtyard entrance on North Shore Drive. Presenter materials also requested nine additional parking spaces near the Pagani entry and extension of the facility's black iron fence to incorporate the added paving. Presenter said the additional parking would generally remain empty except for occasional after-hours valet events.

Board members questioned landscaping and screening, and one member noted that the code requires hedge screening only for employee parking, not visitor parking. Members asked whether the sign letters would be backlit; the presenter said the letters would be subtly backlit and that sign placement and illumination would be coordinated to be understated and compatible with the masonry facade. The presenter also said Ziegler Auto Group acquired Ferrari Lake Forest in May and that Nick Mancuso would continue to be involved in day-to-day operations.

A member moved that the board recommend approval of the requested variances "as submitted," and another member seconded. The board conducted a roll-call vote: Member Wirks, Member Carewerk, Member Dolan, Member Cottrell and the chair (recorded in the transcript as Chair Hunter) each answered "Aye." The motion passed on a unanimous roll call of those recorded present (5 Ayes).

The board's recommendation will be forwarded to the governing body responsible for final approval of the variances. No formal conditions or permit expiration dates were recorded in the transcript of the board's recommendation.

Postvote remarks were collegial and informal; presenters and members exchanged congratulations and comments about the cars and operations. The transcript records several design details (setback, 16-square-foot reduction in portico footprint, nine additional parking spaces, fence extension and backlit letter signage) in the applicant's materials and presenter remarks, but does not list final permit conditions, administrative review steps or a specific decision date by the governing body.