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Naperville annexing sites for future flooring showroom

The Route 59 site of a future carpet and granite showroom cleared a technical zoning hurdle and now is joining the city of Naperville.

Annexed by the city council Tuesday night was not only the 1.6-acre site where the showroom is set to be built in place of three houses, but also a 4.8-acre church property to its north.

The church needed to be annexed for the showroom site to gain contiguity to the city. The site didn't share a border with the city on its own because the other properties that sit adjacent, houses in the Aero Estates subdivision, are in unincorporated Naperville Township.

The annexation came with a split zoning designation for the property of World Missions Society Church of God at 29W771 79th St. The eastern half of the property, along Aero Drive, is zoned for single-family or low-density multifamily housing, while the western half, along Route 59, is zoned for business as a community shopping center district.

The church will be allowed to remain as a nonconforming use. But when it sells the property, future uses must fit within the two zoning classifications or seek a change, said Allison Laff, deputy director of transportation, engineering and development.

Some Aero Estates residents who were proponents of the split zoning said they think this will protect their street's residential character and prevent a business from being built in their midst.

But two residents who spoke before Tuesday's decision said they're unhappy with the move. Mother-daughter Aero Estates residents Suzette Selig and Erika Selig said the 15,109-square-foot building planned for Best Buy Carpet and Granite and another tenant doesn't fit in the area, either.

Instead of buying three houses used as home-based businesses along Route 59 and tearing them down to build a showroom, Suzette Selig said Best Buy Carpet and Granite could find a suitable property elsewhere nearby.

"There's a huge amount of vacant commercial property all along 59," she said. "The development scheme is not well planned out."

Council members Patty Gustin and John Krummen voted against the annexation and related rezoning measures, which passed 6-2 with council member Becky Anderson absent.

All on the council voted against variances the flooring store developers requested. The variances would have allowed the showroom to be built without a loading dock and would have permitted a drive-through for the other tenant space to block parking spots and be closer than 40 feet to a residential property.

"You're putting a commercial property and building basically a warehouse in a residential neighborhood," Erika Selig said. "The warehouse will be the only commercial property in Aero Estates."

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