Lake County Gazette

Highland Park residents recently shared their thoughts on a newly proposed business from a real estate company.

Muller Realty is planning a project that would feature a 22,700-square-foot motor vehicle service center with 133 parking spaces, along with 124 spaces of storage and inventory parking for motor vehicles. All the buildings would be shaped in an L with all bay doors facing away from the neighborhood and toward the railroad.

“I think it's important to note we're not taking final action tonight,” Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said at a Sept. 12 City Council meeting. “This is the first conversation that we're having based on the recommendations from the PDC. So this is a complex question, and we're going to have a good and hearty conversation around it.”

The proposed plan went through the planning commission and had several changes and drafts before it was presented to the City Council. The planning commission brought it forward with their approval pending several conditions. These included requiring the driveway to follow specifications to decrease traffic, limiting parking areas, planting canopy and shade trees, and keeping building doors shut at all times unless weather does not permit it.

At the meeting, City Council members asked several questions related to noise, lighting, water retention and paving. Community members were also allowed to speak with public comments concerning the same factors. Rotering eventually added an Oct. 11 meeting for the subject to give the company an opportunity to get more answers and allow for more discussion time.