Morton Grove board remands Curve Industrial/BBJ Latavola redevelopment to Plan Commission after residents raise traffic and tax concerns

The Morton Grove Village Board voted 6–0 to remand Plan Commission case PC2506, a revised application by Curve Industrial to redevelop an 11‑acre site on Lehigh Avenue for a single-tenant facility to house event linen firm BBJ Latavola, after trustees and residents pressed for more detail on truck routing, loading docks, lease protections and tax incentives.

Zoe Haidor, who presented the plan commission file to the board, told trustees the applicant reduced building area by nearly 20 percent, consolidated from two tenants to one and cut employee parking by roughly 16 percent. She said staff and advisory commissions recommended additional conditions to limit future, higher-intensity truck or distribution uses.

Kurt Pasco, executive vice president of development at Curve Industrial, highlighted design changes the applicant says address neighbors’ concerns: increased setbacks (now proposed at more than 200 feet from adjacent buildings), more green space and tree plantings, bird‑friendly glass, on‑site truck courts intended to keep delivery vehicles off neighborhood streets, and voluntary brownfield remediation in coordination with the Illinois EPA. Pasco said the revised plan portrays a single, light‑manufacturing and warehousing tenant with operations including linen fabrication, showrooms, equipment rental, laundry and interior storage.

Greg Sullivan, chief executive of BBJ Latavola, described operational constraints that prompted the request for a purpose‑built facility: a laundry tunnel and other heavy infrastructure that he said cannot be retrofitted easily into existing office stock, year‑round storage needs for seasonal inventory, and the staging of multiple box trucks for early‑morning deliveries.

Trustees repeatedly asked about traffic and truck counts. Haidor and applicants said BBJ represented no more than eight box trucks and a maximum of two daily UPS deliveries under current operations, and that a truck‑routing plan would prohibit northbound movements on Lehigh and direct vehicles to River Road and Oakton. Applicants acknowledged semitrailer movements would be limited under the current proposal — “one to two semis per day,” they said — and that staff could require a special‑use review for any future higher‑intensity user.

Residents and nearby property owners urged caution. Robert Bum, who owns adjacent River Drive properties, said the project could trigger a long‑term reduction in property taxes if a separate 6B incentive is approved and questioned the need for a large number of loading docks and the maneuverability of semis on local streets. Michael Tracy, another long‑time area property owner, urged the village to prioritize repurposing vacant industrial buildings rather than build a new large facility at this site.

Board members described the revised proposal as more compromised than earlier iterations but said additional detail was required before a final decision. Trustee Minkx moved to remand the application to the Plan Commission for reconsideration of the conditions discussed; Trustee Phil seconded. The motion passed on a 6–0 roll call.

The board did not act on the separate 6B tax incentive at this meeting; staff said that application would be considered via a separate resolution in the future. The remanded case will return to the Plan Commission for another public hearing where trustees, staff and applicants expect to address truck routing, environmental remediation details and potential lease conditions as part of the record.