A private charitable organization has the Elgin City Council’s tentative approval to turn a North Mclean Boulevard office building into a Hindu temple, despite concerns raised by a neighboring Tyler Towers condo association about increased traffic and parking problems.
Sri Gururayara Seva Samiti of Illinois, known as SGSS, purchased the 7,000-square-foot building at 362 N. Mclean Blvd. in June 2023 to create a temple for its members, who will use it for prayers and meals in the religious worship of Sri Narayana, a spiritual leader and social reformist.
SGSS plans extensive renovations to the inside of the building, but the outside will remain as is, Mark Mylott, Elgin’s director of community development, told the council at this week’s meeting.
The temple will have a bedroom for a priest and two large gathering spaces, one for religious ceremonies and the other to be used as a dining hall for traditional meals, he said. Special events and four fundraisers will be held throughout the year, he said.
Don Rage, whose company manages Tyler Towers condominiums, said 72 owners signed a petition objecting to the building’s reuse as a temple.
Increased traffic on an already congested Mclean Boulevard is a concern for Tyler Towers residents, he said. The road is like a “racetrack,” with already existing traffic making it difficult for condo residents to exit their complex, said Rage, who requested a traffic study be done to determine the effect of vehicles going to and from the temple.
Beyond that, SGSS doesn’t have enough parking to accommodate the number of people expected to be attending temple activities, Rage said.
Mylott said the property has 64 parking spaces, which should be sufficient. Religious ceremonies during the week typically have about 100 attendees, who will use between 30 and 35 parking spots, he said. Weekend services are typically attended by about 125 people, which translates to between 40 and 45 parking spots, he said.
While fundraisers could draw as many as 320 people, SGSS has an agreement with an adjacent property owner to use his 32-space parking lot on an as-needed basis, Mylott said. That would give SGSS more than the number of parking places required under the city’s ordinance, he said.
Rage disagreed, saying the tenants of the adjacent property will need those parking spots because they offer counseling during special events at the temple. It’s wrong for the city make exceptions to its ordinance to benefit a property use, he said.
“I am fully supportive of a temple or any religious organization that would be helpful to the city of Elgin,” Rage said. “There’s a lot of other places that can accommodate this.”
Mylott said city staff believe there’s ample parking space when the adjacent property is added into the mix.
“We believe this is a perfect example of what we’ve encouraged through the zoning ordinance of shared parking spaces, so there isn’t the necessity of creating more surface parking,” he said.
The council approved the plans on the condition that SGSS obtain a written agreement that ensures the additional parking is available. A final vote will be taken in a few weeks.
If SGSS can’t get the agreement, “there are options we would work through,” Mylott said.
SGSS started its congregation in 2006 with 25 people in Lemont. It was a private organization for 18 years before holding its first public event in spring 2019, according to city documents.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.