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Trustees reject zoning amendment, deny special use for 'Remedy Wellness' at 110 West Calendar
Summary
Trustees voted 4–2 to reject a text amendment that would have allowed 'health-focused retail with accessory medical services' in first-floor C-1 storefronts and then denied the special-use permit for Remedy Wellness; supporters argued it was primarily retail, opponents said the change would erode the Central Business District retail core.
Trustees voted 4–2 on March 9 to reject a text amendment that would have allowed health-focused retail businesses with accessory medical services in first-floor storefronts in the C-1 Central Business District, blocking a special-use permit application for a business called Remedy Wellness at 110 West Calendar Avenue.
The board heard detailed presentations from staff and the plan commission before a sustained trustees' debate. Trustee Peterson introduced the measure, saying plan commission review supported a limited change; she later summarized staff conversations and stated, “I will not be supporting this.” Trustee Peterson then voted against the amendment.
President Kuchler framed his opposition around preserving first-floor retail. He told colleagues he was “strongly against it,” arguing the Central Business District’s retail mandate has historically supported La Grange’s downtown identity. Trustee McGee echoed that view, saying the board should not rewrite the code “just to appease one person.”
Trustee Augustine argued the proposal was still retail-focused and highlighted Plan Commission work, saying the concept included a substantial retail component (she noted it was “majority of the space, 70 to 75%”). Deputy Village Manager Charity Jones clarified licensing limits and code distinctions, explaining that because the proposed pilot services are for school‑age children or limited timeframes they would not trigger daycare licensure and that the village had narrowed the amendment’s scope during plan commission review.
The plan commission had recommended approval with conditions to preserve a substantial retail component. The application described Remedy Wellness as a retail storefront with wellness services occupying roughly 300 square feet in the rear and a retail area of over 960 square feet; proposed services listed by the applicant included IV treatments, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and B-12 injections, which the applicant said would not require prescriptions.
After the failed amendment vote (4–2), village counsel and the board noted the law does not permit approving a special use that the code does not authorize; the board then voted to deny the special-use ordinance for 110 West Calendar Avenue. President Kuchler said the applicant had left the meeting before the special-use vote and that because the text amendment failed, the board was legally required to deny the special use.
The board did not adopt the requested zoning change. The outcome leaves the C-1 code unchanged and maintains the existing prohibition on most health‑practitioner offices in first-floor storefronts in the Central Business District.
What happens next: trustees asked staff and counsel to continue considering locations outside the Central Business District for uses that include accessory services, and Trustee Jackson asked that village counsel brief the board on state-level 'Build' legislation affecting housing and zoning, which the board may address in coming weeks.
