LAKE IN THE HILLS – Village Board members on Tuesday gave their final notes and moved the proposed Speedway gas station at Harvest Gate and Algonquin Road forward for a vote scheduled for Thursday.
Speedway wants to build a 4,600-square-foot convenience store with 10 fuel islands for 20 pumps on a 2.4-acre site at the northwest corner of Algonquin Road and Harvest Gate.
Construction is planned to start in the fall and last three to four months. The project is estimated to cost $5.7 million, project officials said.
Speedway is asking for a conditional use permit to carry the project. It also is asking for the north lot line to have a 25-foot setback instead of the required 30 feet, and a 10-foot setback along the west lot line.
A fence normally required between a business and residential-zoned properties also is proposed to be waived.
The gas station chain also is asking for a 10-foot-tall sign, two feet higher than the maximum height.
It’s also asking for an off-site sign that is 15 feet tall and 100 square feet in the future that would be used to promote future businesses if and when other nearby parcels are developed.
Village President Paul Mulcahy preferred one sign that would have shared spaces with other future businesses.
“I would prefer one monument sign over the two along Algonquin Road,” Mulcahy said.
Chris Kalischefski, president of the Corporate Design and Development Group, which is working with Speedway on the project, said a gas station needs a separate sign, so gas prices wouldn’t become lost among other business names.
“It’s very important for the viability of this facility to have an independent price sign really for the business to hopefully be successful,” Kalischefski said.
He added the signs are spaced far apart to eliminate possible visual clutter.
Developers want to remove 48 trees, of which only 22 are in good condition, village documents say. Speedway does plan to put back 23 trees. Village ordinances require a 1-inch to 1-inch replacement ratio.
The trees are being removed in order to provide a drainage swale and a water main easement for future development, said Kim Strnad, project designer for Corporate Design Development Group.
Many of trees that are being removed are box elders, which Trustee Stephen Harlfinger called an invasive species.
Kalischefski said Speedway plans to plant a mixture of maples, oaks and linden trees.
The company does plan to put a mixture of shrubs and perennials, as well.
In order to replace the value of trees not being replaced, the village’s public works department calculated a fee of $43,200.
Developers have offered to pay $21,600 donation to the village, to which board members agreed.
The village’s comprehensive plan recommends commercial use for the vacant site.
“We think there’s a need in the community and Speedway has a low presence in the Northwest suburbs,” said Rich Yost, a division project manager for Speedway.
To attend
What: Lake in the Hills Village Board
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Village Hall, 600 Harvest Gate