Huntley Village Board punts on strip mall

The Huntley Village Board on Thursday postponed voting on a proposed strip mall that is in front of the Lions Chase subdivision.

Plans indicate the shopping center would consist of three buildings at the intersection of Main Street and Charles H. Sass Parkway.

A traffic light is slated to be installed at the intersection, which will be a “span wire” signal to start, similar to lights farther down Main Street at the intersections of Marengo and Harmony roads and Harmony and Hemmer roads.

A permanent light is scheduled to be installed upon future development on a property north of Main Street. Huntley Director of Development Services Charlie Nordman said there are not any plans for development on that property.

The Village Board first looked at the plans for the complex in 2022 and at the time expressed worries about traffic and other things, according to village documents.

When the Plan Commission reviewed the project in June, renderings were different than those from 2022. Decorative towers on the ends of the buildings were shortened, among other changes.

Residents in the Lions Chase subdivision also spoke at the Plan Commission meeting and had worries about the strip mall, including traffic safety and proximity to the residential development, according to village documents.

Like the Village Board, the Plan Commission also had punted on approving the project. Ultimately, at the second hearing, the Plan Commission gave it a unanimous thumbs-up, with stipulations. Among the stipulations were glare shields “upon all light pole fixtures proposed along the south and east property lines having residential adjacency,” according to village documents.

Although the issue of traffic had come up in 2022, Village Board members had a variety of views on it Thursday.

“My concern is still there,” trustee Ronda Goldman said of the traffic.

Village President Tim Hoeft said he felt the traffic was “already there.”

“Unless you get something spectacular that’s a one-off, one-of-a-kind attraction; the traffic issue isn’t going to be any worse than it is,” Hoeft said.

The stretch of Main Street by the strip mall has a speed limit of 55 mph and any speed limit reduction would need to go through the McHenry County Board because that stretch is a county road.

In addition to a traffic light, the Plan Commission stipulated a deceleration lane for traffic going east on Main Street to make a right turn into the complex and a left-turn lane for traffic going west on Main Street. Traffic leaving the complex to go west on Main Street will have to use the light to go left.

The Plan Commission focused on the architecture, according to village documents. Renderings first presented to the Plan Commission appeared more monotonous than those from 2022. Towers on the first renderings were much more scaled back the second time around.

The renderings presented to the Village Board on Thursday looked similar to those in 2022, but with a different color scheme. The color scheme in 2022 was brown and cream with black sign lettering, while the color scheme presented Thursday was dark brown and white with blue sign lettering.

Nordman said the blue lettering was for illustration purposes only.

Some on the board said it resembled a car dealership, while others noted the location as being off the beaten path.

“As others have mentioned, this is kind of our out-there,” Trustee JR Westberg said.

Trustee John Piwko said, “It’s like the desert wasteland out there.”

Piwko asked about the square decorative towers at the corner of the buildings.

“To me, it looked like a car dealership,” Piwko said.

Inder Virk, the developer, said the decorative towers were added to break up the monotony of the building.

Piwko said later he can “go with” shorter towers.

Hoeft said he wanted the developer to go back to the first renderings. He said it “looks a little nicer.”

Virk plans to include a breakfast place, salon suites and a dental office in he development. He said his wife, Dr. Amrit Virk, has a dental practice in Island Lake that will be expanding to Huntley.

Hoeft suggested the Village Board delay voting until its next meeting so trustees could see updated elevations and awnings in the middle spaces of the buildings.

“If we’re going to approve it, we’d like to see the awnings,” Hoeft said.

Virk said Sunday he already has updated the renderings.

The strip mall is set to come back before the Village Board at 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at Village Hall, 10987 Main St.

“Hopefully, we get their blessing on the 8th,” Virk said.