Dealership, jet noise discussed at meeting

by BRIAN NADIG

A zoning change for a used car dealership, jet noise and fund-raising for a new park were discussed at the Feb. 8 meeting of the Mayfair Civic Association.

The headquarters for Luxury Auto Selection is located at 4580 N. Elston Ave., but the facility is not large enough for its 85-car inventory because nearly all of the cars are sold over the Internet, according to project officials.

The company is seeking to store some of its inventory in an industrial building at 4428 N. Elston Ave., but the site would have to be rezoned from C1-1 to C2-1. A new driveway would be installed at the front of the one-story building to allow for the installation of an overhead door.

"Generally in Mayfair on Elston, people don’t want more curb cuts," association zoning committee chairman Chris Lambesis said. He added that Elston has a high number of auto-related businesses and that too often vehicles are parked on the driveway and block the sidewalk.

Project representatives said that cars would be moved into the building quickly, unlike a car wash where there can be a line of vehicles waiting.

Company representatives said that they would be open to the creation of a plan of operation, which would become a condition of Luxury’s license, in which they would agree to restrictions requested by the community.

It also was reported that jet noise over area homes is expected to increase significantly when the planned extension of the Thorndale runway is finished in 2021.

"If you plan to live in Mayfair the rest of your life, this problem is not going to go away," Fair Allocation In Runways coalition chairman John Kane said. The extension will allow "massive jets" to use the Thorndale runway, he said.

The coalition recently became registered as a nonprofit organization, allowing it to start collecting donations, Kane said. The coalition was formed in an effort to come up with short- and long-term solutions to the airplane noise and other environmental problems related to the transition of diagonal to primarily east-west runways at O’Hare International Airport.

The number of monthly noise complaints related to O’Hare was about 470,000 in 2017, compared to 207 in 2008, according to the coalition.

Kane said that despite the drastic increase in complaints, elected officials have done little to rectify the situation.

"They generally don’t fear the impact of these numbers," Kane said.

In related news, according to published reports, the city is working on a massive terminal expansion deal with the airlines that would feature dozens of new gates and a new Global Terminal that would replace Terminal 2 at O’Hare. The city has not officially released the plans of the project.

Meanwhile, the association is hoping to raise $25,000 to help pay for the creation of a park on an 11,000-square-foot vacant parcel at 4542-48 N. Kedvale Ave. The association also is seeking grants for the purchase of the land.

Donations can be sent to the Mayfair Civic Association, 4731 N. Kilbourn Ave., Chicago, IL 60630.

Some residents at the meeting said that they would start a fund-raising account on gofundme.com for the project.

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