A contentious proposal to rezone a 20-acre parcel in DuPage Township from agricultural (A-1) to heavy industrial (I-3) for an outdoor vehicle storage facility narrowly passed the Will County Land Use and Development Committee on Thursday, following a lengthy and heated debate.

The case, ZC-25-052, concerns a property at 13141 S. High Road, owned by ARAN Holdings, LLC. The applicant returned to the county after the full County Board denied a request for a special use permit for the same purpose in August 2023. The rezoning to I-3 would allow outdoor storage by right, a move that drew sharp criticism from residents and neighboring municipalities.

Attorney Al Demanscus, representing ARAN Holdings, argued that the property is uniquely suited for the proposed use, surrounded by industrial operations including a Citgo plant and ExxonMobil property. He emphasized physical limitations of the roadway, including a low-clearance pipe and a 5-ton weight limit, which he claimed make a trucking terminal operation impossible.

“I don’t know how much better a place could you find for an I-3 than this,” Demanscus stated. “Practically it’s impossible to put trucks or semi-trailers or containers simply because of the limitations from the roads which we don’t control.”

However, local residents and representatives from Romeoville voiced strong opposition, citing concerns over water drainage, traffic safety, and the irreversible nature of an I-3 zoning designation.

“It’s all they want, outdoor trucking. They don’t want outdoor storage. They want it for a trucking terminal,” said Dave Wils, a High Road resident. Wils presented photos of flooding on his property, which he alleged was caused by the applicant altering a pond on their land. He also claimed that despite the weight and clearance limits, trucks frequently and illegally use the road.

Don Caldwell, representing the Village of Romeoville, echoed concerns about the I-3 classification. “Our biggest concern are actually the concerns that you all brought up originally. It is the I-3 most intense industrial usage. There’s no conditions that can be put on it,” she said. Caldwell noted that if the intense use damages High Road, the financial burden for repairs would fall on Romeoville, even though the business is in an unincorporated area.

The debate highlighted a key difference between a special use permit, which can be conditioned, and a map amendment, which cannot. Committee member and district representative Raquel M. Mitchell expressed this concern directly.

“I swear I know that they want to come and do this business, but when they sell this business, it’s still an I-3 and we have no control over whether or not the next person is going to do some I-3 things that we don’t like,” Mitchell said. “I’m nervous about the I-3 part of it.”

Committee Chair Frankie Pretzel noted the history of the case. “I actually feel like the board got this one wrong,” he said of the 2023 denial of the special use permit. “This seems like a pretty great use… for that space.”

Despite the opposition, proponents on the committee pointed to the industrial character of the surrounding area. Board member Steve Balich (not on the committee) commented, “If I was the applicant, I would get aggravated and I say, ‘Okay, I’m not going to do it no more. I’m going to get a pig farm’… And guess what? That’s by right.”

The committee ultimately voted 4-1 to recommend approval of the map amendment, with only member Denise Winfrey dissenting after an initial voice vote appeared to fail. The recommendation now goes to the full Will County Board for a final, decisive vote.