By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
A group of neighbors in the Spring Road area have formed an organization called Elmhurst Neighbors United to protest a request for conditional use to build parking lots in the small business district in south Elmhurst. The request was made by the Moreci family who owns Roberto’s Ristorante on Spring Road. The Morecis are seeking permits to allow zoning for two commercial parking lots in the area which is zoned for residential.
Elmhurst Neighbors United (ENU) was created to oppose “the pervasive encroachment of commercial use into Elmhurst residential neighborhoods.” Members are claiming that the parking lots could increase flood damage, increase traffic, thus endangering children, and create an “unavoidable nuisance” with the noise, lights, trash and loitering that often come with increased parking. There are concerns that adding the parking lots could hurt property taxes as well.
The group put together a petition and gathered signatures to present to the City’s Zoning & Planning Commission (ZPC), which is currently considering the Moreci’s request for conditional use. The ZPC is an advisory group to the Elmhurst City Council. After the ZPC approves or denies any zoning consideration such as conditional use, the matter then goes before the Planning & Zoning Committee of the City Council and then before the entire City Council for approval.
To encourage the ZPC to see the issue from their side, ENU produced a petition that contained 687 signatures of people who appeared to support their endeavor.
Signatures from across the nation, including Fairbanks, Honolulu
The document yielded a surprise for the members of the ZPC. Of the 687 on the petition, only 207 are actual Elmhurst residents. The petition seems like a travel brochure of the entire United States. The other 480 signatures are signed by residents from Denver, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Arlington, Va., Green Bay, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, New York City, Palo Alto, Mesa, Az., Austin, Tex., San Diego, Miami, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Knoxville, Charlotte, San Jose, Portland, Ore., Tampa, Ft. Worth, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Shreveport, La., Los Angeles, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Birmingham, Williamsburg, Newark, Louisville, Milwaukee, Silver Springs, Maryland, St. Louis – and the biggest surprise – there are signatures from Honolulu as well as Fairbanks, Alaska. There are also signatures from Chicago as well as other suburbs like Midlothian, Homewood, Plainfield and Crystal Lake.
There were also a few phony names that can’t be repeated in a family newspaper.
The signature list can be found at the City’s web site on boarddocs.com. The ZPC is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Meetings have recently been held virtually. For more information, visit Elmhurst.org.
