Despite the protests of neighbors, Juno Lighting Inc. won approval from the Des Plaines Zoning Board of Appeals this week in the first of three public hearings required to move into a vacant research facility on the corner of Algonquin and Wolf Roads.
Juno, currently on Mt. Prospect Road in Des Plaines, wants to build a 465,000-square-foot assembly center on the 33-acre site of a Borg-Warner Corp. research facility that has been vacant since 1988. The move requires changing the zoning from research to manufacturing.
But about 150 neighbors of the site attended the meeting Monday to show that they want only residential development on the site.
Neighbors say they want the campus, which is surrounded on three sides by residential areas, returned to its 1955, pre-Borg-Warner residential zoning.
The board, however, voted 5-1 to grant the change, saying that the higher taxes collected from Juno, about $1 million compared with $360,000 to $480,000 if the property were developed residentially, would be a benefit to the entire community.
While officials say it is unreasonable for Borg-Warner to lose millions of dollars by selling the property as residential rather than commercial, neighbors say the plant simply will not fit into their neighborhood and could cause traffic problems, flooding and decreased property values.
”I don`t think it`s the responsibility of the city of Des Plaines to see that Borg-Warner can maximize its profits on the way out of town,” resident Richard Lacaille said.
Juno had petitioned the city in July to change the zoning on the site. After neighbors` protests and a negative ruling from the zoning board, Juno withdrew.
Louis Pagones, director of community development, said the board changed its ruling after reconsidering finances and because of the threat of a lawsuit from Borg-Warner.
Because the city had briefly changed the zoning to manufacturing, then changed it back to research, Des Plaines could be held liable for ”taking”
value from the property, he said.
