Residents packed a meeting as an Oswego planning panel narrowly recommended approval of a special use permit to build a ready-mix concrete plant near Route 71 and Minkler Road.
The Oswego Village Board will have the final vote on the matter.
Oswego Planning and Zoning Commissioners in a 4 to 3 vote recommended the special use to the Village Board despite objections from area residents. Voting yes were members Stan Popovich, Amanda Purkeypile, Dominick Cirone and Rick Kuhn. Voting the other way were Ken Holmstrom, Charles Pajor and Rebecca Stine.
The proposed ready-mix concrete plant would be comprised of roughly 6 acres within the middle of a business park at the southwest corner of a 442-acre property near Route 71 and Minkler. The facility would have material silos roughly 60 feet in height and be about 2,900 feet from the nearest resident in the Arbor Gate subdivision.
Angelo Kleronomos, of Oswego, suggested during a public hearing the village refer to its own comprehensive plan when deciding on the special use.
“My concern is that a concrete plant goes a little bit beyond the manufacturing zoning,” he said.
The majority of resident comments at the commission meeting focused on the potential impact such a facility would have for residents in the Arbor Gate and Hunt Club subdivisions as well as the rural areas of Oswego.
“I think it will create a problem with noise and dust and it will be uncomfortable for people living in the area,” Kleronomos said.
The Hamman family-owned Fox Ridge Stone sand and gravel pit is nearing closing and the owners now want to operate a ready-mix concrete plant at the site. If approved, they said the plant could be built as early as next spring. The quarrying operation opened in 1978.
For the other areas on the 442 acres they have requested rezoning for a 73-acre business park and 54.5 acres for commercial development. The remainder has been designated for residential development, 18 acres of which would be multi-family units. The original plan was for 80 acres of commercial and the remaining land for single-family homes.
The residential development could be years away because the excavated areas at the site are just beginning to be filled in by developers with excess soil from new residential lots.
The concept plan designates a portion of land north of Route 71 for commercial and possibly a joint municipal water treatment facility the villages of Oswego, Yorkville and Montgomery are exploring.
The plan commission recommended approval of the concept plan and rezoning for the property in two other 6 to 1 votes. Kuhn, who voted no, said he doesn’t object to a concrete plant but he is opposed to commercial development and a water treatment plant on land north of Route 71.
He said Aurora is the second largest city in the state and its water treatment facility fits on a significantly smaller parcel. He said it’s also too nice of an area for a strip mall.
“It’s an area of oak trees and riverfront property that we don’t have a lot of,” Kuhn said.
However, he thinks the concrete facility would be an appropriate use.
“I think the ready-mix concrete plant will be relatively dust-free and there are rules in place for them to be a good neighbor,” Kuhn said.
The property was partially annexed in 2000 into the village in a court-ordered zoning case which allowed the property to be operated as a quarry, village officials said.
Kenneth Blue, who said he lives in rural Oswego on old Minkler Road, said there was a concerted effort back then to prevent the quarrying operation.
“I don’t think you have the zoning codes in place – lot of us have lived here a long time,” Blue said.
Terry Anderson of Oswego, a real estate broker, told commissioners it would be difficult to encourage people to buy homes near a concrete plant. He said it would also be in proximity to existing prime residential areas.
“Minkler Road is a gateway to some very nice homes in our area. To have a concrete plant as a doormat going into some of our expensive areas would be a travesty,” Anderson said.
Kim Grant said she lives in the Hunt Club subdivision in Oswego and families are concerned elementary school buses would travel on the roads during hours of operations of the plant.
“It’s a huge concern for residents of Hunt Club,” she said.
Naperville attorney John Phillipchuck, in representing the Hamman family, said the original annexation agreement designated significant single-family residential and commercial zoning on the property.
“In discussions we have had with staff we found a business park would be beneficial to the village. We all know what has happened with some of our brick-and-mortar retail,” he said.
Village staff said as the property develops the existing land features would create sufficient buffers for adjacent property owners. They said the proposed concrete plant would be about a half a mile away from the existing residential subdivision to the east.
They said the site would have to meet sound restrictions and that the Environmental Protection Agency would conduct random site inspections every two years. Oswego Community Development Director Rod Zenner said inspections would be “complaint driven” as well.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News
