Unwelcome Neighbor

A letter dated Oct. 1, 1984, remains in easy reach of Auto Parts City Inc. (APC) owners Larry and Jay Brosten. It is from the Village of Gurnee, Ill., and it states that automotive salvage is a legal, nonconforming use of the property. Although the letter was sent to explain the status of the business when the Brosten’s purchased it, the words "legal" and "nonconforming" characterize a widely shared community mindset the Brostens hope their 2007 recycling victory will help to overcome.

In the literal sense, the letter meant they could continue to operate the business as before; however, they could not add to or modernize the site’s existing buildings. Informal inquires throughout the years did nothing to change the village’s position.

"It was an old salvage yard handling about 100 cars per month when we bought it in 1984," says Larry. "We hoped eventually the village would reconsider—we were wrong."

APC may have been frozen in time, but Lake County certainly wasn’t. From 1980 to 2008, the population increased from 440,000 to more than 700,000. Lake County is the northeastern most county in Illinois. Located off Interstate 94, Gurnee, Ill., is in the center of it, about 35 miles north of downtown Chicago. Modern Gurnee has grown from a sleepy hamlet into a thriving retail/recreation destination for the entire region.

"Obviously, an auto recycler is not on anyone’s top-10 list of must-have businesses," observes Jay. "We don’t attract shoppers or tourists, but we do provide a vital service. Currently, we process roughly 1,000 vehicles per month. Most of our stock comes from surrounding municipalities. With that kind of flow, we outgrew our existing site," he adds.

An alternate site became the only viable option. The Brostens increasing vocal efforts seeking approval to build a state-of-the-art facility would produce three different proposed relocation sites, and several rounds of newspaper headlines.

Brothers Larry and Jay are third-generation auto recyclers. They hoped the sale, in 2000, of another one of their auto recycling businesses, Hy-Way Auto Parts Inc., to Ford Motor Co. would prove to the county’s residents that they could develop a first-class facility. When Ford entered the recycling business, via its Green Leaf division, it was very selective in the salvage businesses it acquired. Environmentally friendly, Hy-Way was surrounded by forest preserve property along the banks of the Des Plaines River. The site is approximately 7 miles from APC.

But Hy-Way was developed to serve the insurance industry with used parts for late-model vehicle repair. APC recycles older vehicles.

"The economics of recycling older vehicles requires APC to remain as close as possible to the source of the supply," explains Larry. "We wanted to make it as ‘green’ as possible, too."

The first place the Brostens looked for sites to relocate was Waukegan, Ill. Directly east of Gurnee, with an ethnically diverse population of 91,500, Waukegan once was a heavily industrial city that is now striving to refashion its post-industrial image. It continues to be a primary source of vehicles for APC.

Around the time of the Hy-Way sale, the Brostens inquired about a Waukegan property behind a big-box retailer, approximately one mile from APC. However, during a meeting with the city planner, they were told the city was lobbying the retailer to expand.

Then in 2002, another opportunity arose when a 16-acre ComEd (electric utility) vehicle maintenance facility on the west side of Waukegan was put on the market. The nearest residence was a comfortable distance away. It was surrounded on two sides by forest preserve property and was next to a railroad track. Even better, the Brostens thought, was the fact that an industrial park was being developed on the other side of the tracks.

The Brostens were hopeful when the city planner had no clear objection, and the mayor reacted positively. In fact, the mayor even favorably mentioned the impending auto recycling center when he spoke to a local business group.

But the Brostens were about to learn a tough lesson in just how fleeting political support can be.

The plan commission deadlocked on the APC proposal after it caught the attention of several citizen activists who hastily organized an opposition group. With a city council election drawing near, the Brostens withdrew their petition.

"We got a lot of negative press in 2002," says Larry. "It became pretty clear some opposition organizers were using us to help launch their political careers. They raised every objection they could possibly think of. Even the owners of the industrial park development objected to our relocation. But the worst part was that some opponents brought our family’s character into question," he adds.

The Brostens say that the age and condition of APC at the time left them in a "Catch-22." "The irony is, if we did not want to modernize our facility we would have been allowed to operate our old, antiquated facility forever," notes Larry. "But every time we tried to say building a state-of-the-art facility is the right thing to do, the legal constraints of operating our existing facility were used against us."

Frustrated by the experience, the Brostens began refusing all Waukegan vehicles. That created hard feelings between the Brostens and some local towing contractors, who didn’t want controversy. Eventually the commotion died down, and APC again began to accept Waukegan vehicles. But the stage had been set.

"After 2002 we had to rebuild our family image," says Jay. "Now, at least, we are considered respectable members of the community engaged in a business no one wants in their backyard. In trying to relocate a business like ours, we had to sell the importance of the need, and then find a site."

In 2004, one of the area’s larger towing company owners decided to expand his operation in auto salvage. On the other side of the street from APC was Butch’s Auto Parts, a very old, poorly maintained, 3-plus-acre salvage yard just inside the municipal boundaries of Park City. The tow operator bought it.

Both APC and Butch’s are located in an area of choppy, gerrymandered municipal borders. Park City is a relatively small city. The majority of its 7,000 residents live in a mobile home community that developed around an array of industrial users.

In exchange for Park City’s granting the towing company owner a conditional-use permit to operate Butch’s former salvage yard, the new owner agreed to clean up the site and to use better salvage practices than had been used previously.

In 2005, when cleanup began, APC was contracted to remove all the scrap on the property that had accumulated throughout the business’s 40 years. Eventually, the towing operator decided not to expand into the auto salvage business, and he sold the property to the Brostens.

No one will argue that the most contemporary, aesthetically pleasing industrial property along the corridor is Nordic Properties, a large construction and real estate development firm. Located almost directly across the street from the existing APC, its 16-acre parcel of land includes a modern glass-clad office building with picturesque landscaping and an aerated pond. Behind the office is an attached 18,000-square-foot maintenance garage. Behind the garage is a 5,000-square-foot concrete-block building and 8 acres of open land.

Two sides of Nordic Properties lie directly on the border of Gurnee and Park City, and part of it abuts Butch’s. In 2006, Nordic scaled back its operations; the Brostens made a deal to buy the property.

"We knew it would be complicated," says Larry. "But if we combined Butch’s with Nordic Properties we would have almost 20 acres. We had the plans drawn and began the process of seeking approvals in the two municipalities."

The Brostens say the initial meetings with Park City officials went well. In fact, afterward, the Brostens were issued a building permit to install new electrical service to Butch’s former building.

They also petitioned Gurnee for a conditional use permit and zoning change for Nordic Properties.

"After going through this a few times, we were prepared for anything," says Jay. "We hired the most experienced engineers and designers we could find. From an environmental, operational and aesthetic standpoint, we offered the most comprehensive plan imaginable. No other industrial user before us has ever presented a plan that was as carefully drawn out as ours was."

The initial plan included the most sophisticated automotive fluid drainage and evacuation systems available. APC agreed to build an acoustically designed car compacting building and a precisely organized vehicle storage area for 1,000 self-serve vehicles. Much of Butch’s site was slated to become a paved parking lot for retail customer use. To buffer mobile home residents, fencing and a detention pond were included.

"We really wanted the public to care about auto recycling, and we wanted them to know that Lake County would be served with the most aesthetically pleasing, state-of-the-art facility possible," Larry says.

But after the owners of the mobile home park learned of the plan, organized resistance developed. The Brostens now agree the biggest tactical mistake they made was attending an unofficial community meeting with Park City residents and local press.

"We wanted open dialogue with the community," Jay says. "But they weren’t there to hear about our plan. They wanted to show us how strong their opposition was. We took a beating in the press," he continues. "Fearful, angry residents are easy to quote."

"Somehow fear of a ‘car crusher’ took on a life of its own," adds Larry. "We have been using a diesel powered compactor across the street at APC for over 20 years, and our closest neighbors didn’t even know it existed. One of the local newspapers decided ‘Car Crusher’ made a good headline and that was it. What we should have done was host our own informal gathering, where concerned residents and the press could talk to our engineers and designers one-on-one."

The Nordic Properties proposal was taken up by Gurnee officials in February 2007. Despite the opposition of Park City residents who showed up en masse at Gurnee’s village hall, the proposal passed the Plan Commission. But, by April, with increased pressure coming from Park City officials, Park City residents and the press, Gurnee Trustees failed to approve the CUP (conditional use permit).

One issue the Brostens’ attribute to their defeat was a requirement to change the zoning from a less industrial to a more intensive industrial designation. "When crowds show up at public meetings, it’s all about emotion," says Larry. "Politicians look for reasons to please the crowd. A zoning change gave them that reason."

Immediately after the defeat in Gurnee, without notifying the Brostens before hand, Park City’s City Council changed the zoning of the former Butch’s property. The Brostens sued. A settlement was reached allowing the Brostens to use the land in accordance with their overall plan. In addition, Park City agreed not to take an official position against future proposals the Brostens would make in Gurnee regarding the Nordic Properties site.

In August 2007, the Brostens brought the plan back to Gurnee, this time seeking approval as a planned unit development (PUD). As a PUD, it didn’t need rezoning. The slightly modified plan also included acoustical fencing to buffer the entire residential perimeter, more detention area and even deeper set backs.

With Park City officially staying neutral, the Brostens were able to win approval in October despite heavy Park City resident turnout.

Currently, construction is progressing. The new $6 million APC is scheduled to open by late summer. The old property is being marketed. But there remains one hurdle the Brostens must clear. Following Gurnee’s approval, owners of the mobile home park sued the Brostens’ real estate holding company JLB LLC and the Village of Gurnee.

The plaintiffs allege that the defendants "...communicated and devised a scheme to circumvent the one-year (application) restriction by repackaging JLB’s application as a request for a planned unit development for a special use in the less intensive I-2 zoning district."

"Every time we’ve tried to reach out to [the plaintiffs]," Larry says, "we get the same message back. They object to the use," he adds.

Such sentiments are nothing new to the Brostens. It’s the price they must pay for spending their lives devoted to a non-conforming business.

This feature was submitted on behalf of Auto Parts City. The author can be contacted at BigIdeaPR@aol.com.