Zoning change sought for herbal store in area
by BRIAN NADIG
A zoning change is being sought that would allow an herbal supplement store to open in a one-story office building at 5433 N. Milwaukee Ave.
The store would sell vitamins, minerals and cosmetics.
It is not known why the 2,600-square-foot parcel is zoned RT-4, which is intended for multi-family residential construction, Alderman John Arena’s chief of staff Owen Brugh said. The site is next to a three-story condominium building at 5429 N. Milwaukee Ave. that also is zoned RT-4, but most of that stretch of Milwaukee is zoned for business uses.
Brugh said that the owner of Herbaland Inc. likes the location because of the high volume of shoppers that Andy’s Deli, 5442 N. Milwaukee Ave., attracts to the area. The proposed B3-1 zoning would allow various retail and restaurant uses in the 53-year-old building.
Arena plans to hold a community meeting on the project, Brugh said.
The building currently is home to the district office of State Representative Robert Martwick (D-19). At one time the building housed a finance office for the former Gateway Chevrolet.
Martwick’s office will move to a storefront at 5940 N. Milwaukee Ave., where state Senator John Mulroe (D-10) also will have an office, this summer. Mulroe is closing his office at 6107 N. Northwest Hwy.
Also in the area, a permit is pending for the construction of a second-floor addition to a one-story commercial building at 5396 N. Milwaukee Ave., where a motorcycle shop will open. The project has been delayed for about a year, but a store representative said that the project is moving forward, Brugh said.
