Oswego village trustees approve gas station plans for village’s west side

The Oswego Village Board is placing conditions on a gas station and car wash proposed on the village’s west side in response to noise and traffic concerns voiced by nearby residents.

At the June 11 Oswego Village Board meeting, trustees voted 4-1 to approve Gas N Wash’s plans to build a gas station, convenience store and car wash on about 10 acres at the northeast corner of Orchard and Mill roads. They also approved a special use permit for the project.

Those conditions include requiring Gas N Wash to shut off the diesel fuel pumps from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and to have the car wash only operate between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. The business also will have to install No Truck Parking signs.

The convenience store and gas pumps will be open 24/7. Gas N Wash also has agreed to make a $100,000 payment to the village as part of a road maintenance/improvement account for Mill Road.

“The village would have core samples taken of the road to determine if it has the weight capacity to handle larger semi-tractor trailers,” Oswego village administrator Dan Di Santo said. “If it does not, then the petitioner would agree to help upgrade that road so it is able to handle those higher weight trucks.”

Voting against the plan was village trustee Karin McCarthy-Lange.

“I’m not against a gas station, I’m concerned about truck traffic,” she said.

Village trustee Karen Novy was absent from the meeting.

At their March 7 meeting, the majority of Oswego planning and zoning commissioners voted against the plans. The property is zoned B-3 commercial service and wholesale district and is designated as high density residential in the village’s Comprehensive Plan.

“The proposed use is consistent with the current zoning of the site,” Oswego Development Services Director Rod Zenner told commissioners.

A gas station and convenience store are permitted uses in the B-3 district and the proposed car wash is a special use in the B-3 district. Gas N Wash proposes to subdivide the parcel into two lots.

The first lot – which consists of 5.62 acres and is at the southwest corner of the site – is for the proposed gas station/convenience store/car wash. The second lot consists of 4.49 acres and is located on the east and north of the first lot. No users for this parcel are identified at this time.

Anne Sullivan, who lives on Wolverine Drive in Oswego near the proposed development, had previously expressed her concerns about the project’s impact on nearby homes.

“I think we expected possibly some retail, a restaurant, smaller office buildings, that kind of thing,” Sullivan said in talking about possible plans for the land. “That is a residential entrance there and that is going to be a big safety concern for the bike pedestrian path that goes along Mill Street.”

She voiced concerns about the potential noise the development would generate.

“We have a problem with Orchard Road as it is,” Sullivan said. “Motorcycles are ramping it up over 100 miles an hour on a regular basis. It’s like a launch pad there.”

Sullivan requested that a wall be built to block sound, noise and traffic coming through the property lines.

The petitioner has since revised the site plan to take into account concerns voiced at the planning and zoning commission meeting. The lots have been revised to provide for a buffer between the car wash and the townhomes to the north.

The buffer yard provided is about 100 feet wide and contains an 8-foot berm with landscaping including evergreen trees to provide year-round screening.

A solid sound attenuating fence is proposed along the entrance and exit of the car wash to deflect sound from heading north to the townhomes.