The Wilmette Village Board is reexamining village parking requirements after signing off on zoning relief for two new businesses in Westlake Plaza.
The Village Board recently voted to give Jersey Mike’s sandwich shop and Lake Pointe Urgent Care parking zoning relief so they could open in Westlake Plaza at 3207 Lake Avenue. But before the unanimous vote, Trustee Steve Leonard removed the zoning requests from the consent agenda to talk retail parking in the village.
He said village zoning, requiring three parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of leasable space, may not be “adequate in most situations.” He also said some suburban shopping centers require tenants to provide 10 or 15 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet.
When businesses in Wilmette cannot meet parking requirements outlined in the village’s zoning codes the village addresses the issue through the special use process, which is how Jersey Mike’s and Lake Pointe Urgent Care were able to open in Westlake Plaza.
“I think that bringing some structure, bringing some modern analysis approach to the way we think about retail is very important,” Leonard added. “We have at least four major projects going in from a retail standpoint in Wilmette currently. Westlake Plaza obviously is getting up to 100% (occupied) which is great news but it also challenges the parking adequacy issue.”
The major projects include Edens Plaza, Plaza del Lago and Wayfair Marks One.
“Edens Plaza is going under a substantial redevelopment program and how we think about additional new tenants that are going to come in from a parking standpoint is vital, said Leonard. Plaza del lago is being ‘retenanted’ currently and I think that landlord deserves to know where he or she stands from a parking standpoint. I think we should be approaching each type of retail use from a category standpoint with a minimum parking requirement.”
He argues the special use category should remain but wants to include landlords as part of the conversation to make the system better for everyone.
Trustee Kate Gjaja said the village should also consider walkability so residents can get to various shopping destinations without driving a vehicle.
“There’s no encouragement of any other way to get to this place [Westlake Plaza] than by a car,” she noted. “As we look in our Comprehensive Plan, what came through loud and clear is how important active transportation is to our community and how they’re looking for us to encourage that.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
