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Deerfield board approves special use for Ultimate Ninja Academy at 775 Waukegan Road with parking conditions
Summary
The Village of Deerfield approved a special use for a children’s gym at 775 Waukegan Road, imposing four conditions to address parking and pickup safety, and required a six-month follow-up after opening.
The Village of Deerfield Board of Trustees voted Jan. 21 to approve a special use for Ultimate Ninja Academy to occupy a 2,733-square-foot former retail space at 775 Waukegan Road, contingent on four conditions intended to address parking and child pickup safety.
Planning commission materials show the indoor training facility will serve children from about 9 months to 7 years with classes, open play sessions, birthday parties and camps. Petitioner John Brody and broker Stuart Cantoff told the board the business operates 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with peak demand after school and on weekends, and that drop-off and carpooling patterns will limit long-term parking demand.
The board attached four conditions before formal ordinance adoption: require employees to park in the underused spaces east of the building; provide a written customer-education plan about drop-off and pickup (the village must be copied on that material); require a staff member to manage curbside drop-off and escort children to cars; and return to the board for a status update six months after opening. Trustees directed staff to prepare ordinance language reflecting those conditions and scheduled an ordinance vote at a subsequent meeting.
Trustees and staff pressed the petitioner on circulation and safety. A trustee warned that the center’s drive aisles and a nearby 45-degree turn make afternoon pickup potentially congested, and asked for strict education and operational controls. Brody said prior locations and the business’s registration and staggered class times minimize simultaneous arrivals, and Cantoff presented a parking analysis showing the prior retail use required more parking than the proposed use will likely demand.
The motion to approve the recommendation with the four conditions passed on a roll-call vote as recorded by the clerk.
What’s next: staff will prepare ordinance text incorporating the four conditions for formal adoption at the next scheduled meeting; the petitioner will provide the promised customer-education materials and return in six months to report on operational experience.
