Naperville PZC Meeting - April 15, 2026: Telecom Tower, School Bus Depot, Gym, and Bylaw Changes
Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting - April 15, 2026
The Naperville Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) met on April 15, 2026, at 7:00 PM in the City Council Chambers, 400 S. Eagle Street. The meeting lasted from 7:00 PM to 8:43 PM. The Commission addressed four public hearings and three reports, including a telecommunications tower, a school district transportation facility, a private lacrosse gym, a residential addition, traffic impact study report, and significant amendments to the PZC bylaws (including a change in meeting start time). The final vote on the bylaw amendments was postponed and taken via roll call after initial voice approval.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of March 4, 2026: Approved unanimously by voice vote.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Marilyn Schweitzer (Public Forum): Longtime Naperville resident urged the Commission to help advance long-range planning efforts (e.g., Fifth Avenue, I-88 corridor, downtown plan, affordable housing) to provide greater certainty for the community.
- Marilyn Schweitzer (Bylaws discussion): Expressed preference for keeping the meeting start time at 7:00 PM, questioned public feedback process, and requested clarification on written comment submission and incorporation.
Discussion Items
1. DEV-0156-2025: Telecommunications Tower at 3712 Plainfield-Naperville Road
- A new 190-foot freestanding telecommunications tower is proposed on the Springbrook Water Reclamation Center parcel to replace equipment currently on the city-owned water tower (lease expires September 2026). The tower will accommodate Verizon Wireless (primary) and co-location for T-Mobile and AT&T. The petitioner is requesting a conditional use (R1 district) and a variance from the 380-foot setback requirement (actual setback 330.5 feet). The tower is designed for co-location. Chair Robbins recused herself due to a conflict of interest.
2. DEV-0166-2025: Naperville CUSD 203 Transportation Building at 595 and 601 W. 5th Avenue
- The school district proposes to demolish two existing structures and build a combined maintenance garage and office. The project requires revocation of an old PUD (MOV-ROSS joint venture, approved 1980), a variance to eliminate the required fence/landscape buffer along the north property line (existing apartment fence will remain, and the district will add landscaping), and a variance to eliminate the required 15-foot interior side yard setback along the east property line (the district owns both parcels). Petitioner could not answer questions about idling and traffic on 5th Avenue; the Commission requested follow-up information.
3. DEV-0170-2025: Jax Lax – Private Gym and Lacrosse Facility at 655 N. Washington Street
- The petitioner requests a variance to reduce the parking facility setback along the north property line from 5 feet to 0 feet and to reduce the required off-street parking from 26 spaces to 9 spaces for a 6,500-square-foot former auto body shop. The facility is a private use by the owner. Written public comment from a nearby resident expressed concern about parking overflow onto nearby streets. Staff confirmed that parking on Main Street and 8th Avenue is restricted to three hours (6 AM to 6 PM). The Commission recommended using the “active accessibility” logo for the ADA parking space.
4. DEV-0001-2026: Addition at 32 S. Columbia Street
- The owners of a 1912 Sears house (Queen Anne style, non-conforming due to encroachment) request a variance to allow a 1,600-square-foot addition to encroach 10–14 inches into the 15-foot required corner side yard setback. The addition will align with the existing south wall. The Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) approved the Certificate of Appropriateness and recommended approval of the variance. A letter of support from the neighbor to the south was submitted.
5. Reports and Recommendations: Traffic Impact Study Process
- Andy Hynes, TED Deputy Director, presented an overview of when traffic impact studies are required (e.g., changes inconsistent with master plan, need for geometric improvements, significant public/board scrutiny). He also described the city’s Road Improvement Plan based on 2050 projections. No questions or comments from the Commission.
6. PZC Bylaws Amendments and Meeting Start Time Change
- Staff presented proposed amendments to the bylaws, including gender-neutral language, updated procedures for public comments, cross-examination guidelines, and a change in meeting start time from 7:00 PM to 6:00 PM. The Commission discussed mixed public feedback, precedence for earlier meetings, and legal limitations on electronic attendance. Commissioner Wright raised concerns about potentially unlimited cross-examination, but the City Attorney explained existing safeguards. Commissioner Naumes favored 6:00 PM for accessibility; Commissioner McDaniel preferred 7:00 PM. The Commission ultimately voted to approve the amendments including the time change.
Key Outcomes
- DEV-0156-2025 (Telecommunications Tower): Approved 5-0 (3 absent, 1 recused). Recommendation for approval of conditional use and setback variance.
- DEV-0166-2025 (School District 203 Transportation Building): Approved 6-0 (3 absent). Recommendation for approval of variances for fencing and interior side yard.
- DEV-0170-2025 (Jax Lax Gym): Approved 6-0 (3 absent). Recommendation for approval of parking facility setback and parking space variances, subject to conditions in the staff report.
- DEV-0001-2026 (Addition at 32 S. Columbia): Approved 6-0 (3 absent). Recommendation for approval of the corner side yard variance.
- PZC Bylaws Amendments (including time change to 6:00 PM): Approved 6-0 (3 absent). Final vote conducted by roll call after initial voice vote.
- Traffic Impact Study Report: Received with no action taken.
- Minutes of March 4, 2026: Approved unanimously by voice vote.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. I would like to call the planning and zoning commission meeting for April 15th, 2026 to order. Secretary Wright, please conduct roll call. Long and here. McDaniel? Here. Namas? Here. Rachelia. Present. Robins? Here. And Wright is here. Student Raja Rahman. Here. Madam Chair, we have a quorum. Great. Thank you. The first order of business tonight is the public forum. During the public forum, members of the public have the opportunity to address the planning and zoning commission on issues which are not part of tonight's agenda. Please keep your comments limited to three minutes. Also, for the sake of all those in attendance, please refrain from clapping or shouting out in response to comments made by any speaker. Secretary Wright, do we have anyone signed up under public forum? Marilyn Schweitzer. That one. Okay. It's the little person, not the three dots. Marilyn Schweitzer, longtime Naperville resident. And I just would like to say a few words about planning. And not approval or disapproval of a development, but instead community planning. And I can think of several planning concepts that were they up to date. And so some examples are Fifth Avenue. I mean, we we've just had plan after plan. We just had a preview plan about a year ago by ULTAP that looked promising, and I know that that's something the council or somebody at some point is going to decide which is going to go forth. There's the I 88 corridor, which caused a lot of sort of um a rather large cartoffle over whether it was housing, whether it was development, you know, and again, you know, had something sort of been up to date or sort of more in line there. I think it would have helped a lot of resolved a lot of controversy, especially between the commission's decisions and council's decisions. Um the downtown plan, I can think of like you know how that's 2030. It was sort of designed for thinking of a more um vibrant retail um downtown than is currently thought. You know, now the plan is sort of well, it's going to be more housing, and then that causes controversy for things like Maine and Benton that we just saw. And then, of course, affordable housing, which has been off again, on again, off again on again for about the last 20 years. So I really, you know, would like to say first I I very much appreciated having the um the owners of now I can't remember the address of the Lutheran property, you know, do the preview in front of um city council. I think that that was very helpful, you know, just to give everyone sort of a uh a chance before they you know to sort of think about things before um they got too far into the process and um people were dug in and spent way too much money. Um so my question is more tonight is just you know what can the commission do to maybe sort of help you know staff and to help each other sort of move ahead with some of these plans to give a little more certainty to the community. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, the first order of business tonight. Oh, I we already did the public forum, so we're not gonna do that. Um our next order of business in the public hearing. We have four public hearings scheduled for tonight's meeting. For each hearing, we will begin with the staff presentation or introduction, followed by the petitioner's presentation.
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