East Dundee President Jeff Lynam nixed plans this week for a vendor mall to open in a vacant grocery store — two weeks after the Village Board approved them at a meeting he did not attend.
“I am exercising my right to veto,” Lynam announced at the end of Monday’s board meeting.
In explaining his action, he said the description of the type of merchandise to be sold at the mall, which wants to relocate to East Dundee after 20 years in Elgin, was too “vague” and the business falls short of the 461 parking spaces required by village ordinance.
“A clear, more restrictive definition must be provided distinguishing between resale and retail,” Lynam said. Without that, the merchandise being sold could be “a less-than-desirable product offering,” he said.
As for the parking, the parking lot is 97 spaces short of what East Dundee requires, he said. Authorizing a variance, as was recommended by the village staff and the planning and zoning commission, is “a problem,” he said.
Because the matter was approved with a 4-1 board vote, there are enough votes to override the president’s action. That could happen at the board’s March 20 meeting.
However, the action leaves the Elgin Mall Corp.’s plans in limbo until then.
Although Lynam has been vocal in his opposition to the business moving its 87 vendors into the former Dominick’s store at 535 Dundee Ave., that he would override the board’s decision came as a “shock,” President Rosa Leal said.
They had already started meeting with contractors to get bids on renovating the store space when they learned everything was on hold, she said.
“We don’t have any permits that allow us to open the business there,” Leal said. “It just delays everything.”
Because of the additional time they’ll need, the corporation will have to renegotiate its existing lease in Elgin, which is set to expire this spring, she said.
Initially, the owners of their current building wanted the vendors to vacate last summer but have been willing to work with them after they incorporated and started looking for a new location.
Everything now hinges on the board overriding Lynam’s action, Leal said. “Hopefully, we don’t have to go look for another location,” she said.
She added that Lynam’s parking argument isn’t valid because any business that would occupy the 63,000-square-foot space, like a grocery store, would have the same problem. “There’s not enough parking, it’s just a fact,” she said.
Beyond that, the Elgin Mall will be selling the same type of items that a previous village business, the East Dundee Mall, did, Leal said. “What has changed from what they allowed before to now?” she said.
“Everyone is just praying that (the board) looks at this again and they approve us,” Leal said.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
