Facing what appear to be long odds of success, a developer has asked Aurora to rezone a far west side, 10-acre plot for commercial use.
In asking the city to rezone the southwest corner of Galena Boulevard and Orchard Road, Orchard Pointe Development is taking on neighborhood residents and city officials who have opposed any commercial development of the land.
Nevertheless, the company recently presented its plan to the city, and the Plan Commission could consider it as early as November. Orchard Pointe seeks to have the site, now designated for single-family homes, zoned for commercial use.
According to the rezoning petition filed by Orchard Pointe, the development would include a 15,000-square-foot pharmacy with a drive-through window and lots for three other unidentified retail operations.
In February 1999, the City Council gave Aurora Community Church, which owns the site, approval to build a church and school there. Residents of the nearby Cherry Hill and Lakeside of Sans Souci subdivisions had opposed that plan over concerns about traffic and safety.
Despite city approval, the Kane County Board granted limited vehicle access to the site, ending the church’s plans. In December, a real estate agent for the church advertised the site for sale, seeking a “courageous buyer willing to sue city for zoning change to retail use.”
City officials in 1999 said a developer might one day request commercial zoning for the site and ultimately succeed, based on the rule of “highest and best use” of the land at the busy intersection.
But a city spokesman in December said the City Council likely would reject a rezoning bid because Cherry Hill and Lakeside of Sans Souci residents favor only the construction of single-family homes or a church without a school. “It would literally take a lawsuit,” spokesman Bill Catching said at the time.
“Staff has indicated, at least on a preliminary basis, the difficulty it would have supporting this,” Community Development Director Bill Wiet said. He noted that there are no businesses on the intersection’s other three corners.
