Plan commission recommends conditional approval for Amazon driveway widening and parking-lot pedestrian upgrades in Crest Hill

The Crest Hill Plan Commission voted Oct. 9 to recommend conditional approval of variances requested by Amazon, Inc., that would allow a relocated commercial driveway on La Dice Parkway to be about 71 feet wide and permit replacement of required internal parking-lot landscape islands with pedestrian sidewalks at the company’s 26.63-acre site at 16825 Chernovic Lane.

Staff and the applicant said the changes are intended to improve on-site truck circulation and pedestrian safety while reducing truck movements onto public streets. "The city staff has been working with Amazon and Amazon's consultants since the spring," said Ron Mentzer, the city’s community and economic development consultant, who told commissioners the design would keep most truck movements on-site and that the city engineer raised no objections to the proposed driveway design.

Commissioners were shown site plans and heard from applicant representative Andrew Oberso, who said the project would connect the east and west truck yards with a southern circulatory drive, relocate the southeast access roughly 40 feet east and close a southwest access point to reduce queuing and vehicle interactions on adjacent roadways. "Ultimately, this relocation is required to allow for the trucks to exit the facility safely onto the roadways," Oberso said.

Staff told the commission the proposal would remove about 35 to 36 existing trees in the course of replacing parking-lot islands with sidewalks, but the applicant is proposing to plant more than 100 new trees—principally around the northern parking-lot perimeter—to buffer the lot from adjacent roadways and the Caroline Lakes neighborhood. Staff also said the net number of parking spaces would decline but, after reviewing shift schedules with the applicant, the property would still meet the city code minimum for required parking.

The commission moved, seconded and carried a motion to recommend conditional approval of the variances, with the motion recorded as moved by Commissioner Carroll and seconded by Commissioner Peterson. The recommendation to approve is conditioned on substantial conformance with the application materials referenced in the Oct. 9 staff report. The chair said the city council is scheduled to hear the case on Oct. 27, 2025, in the same room at 7 p.m.

The plan commission’s action is a recommendation; final approval will rest with the Crest Hill City Council at its Oct. 27 meeting. No public opposition to the application was recorded during the hearing.

What’s next: The plan commission forwarded its recommendation to the city council for a hearing on Oct. 27, 2025. Applicant representatives were advised to attend to answer council questions.