City officials have asked Menards officials to consider relocating their proposed propane fueling tank.
The store's plan is to add one 1,000-gallon propane tank in front of the west portion of the building. The fueling station would be to refill propane for grills and Menards' commercial vehicles that run on propane in the company's effort to go green.
Ultimately, the company hopes to fuel other vehicles that run on propane fuel.
The Development Review Committee requested the store's General Manager Tim Black ask corporate to look into moving the fueling station to the northwest portion of the property, at the west side of the store building.
Black said the concern with their request is that, according to state fire marshal regulations, the fueling station has to be at least 25 feet from the building and 25 feet from the neighboring property line.
The neighboring property is owned by Menards, so Black was asked to talk to the corporate office about taking a small portion of the neighboring property and deeding it over to the store property to meet the 25 foot requirements.
"I'm not against the fueling station at all, but I'm against the location," said Bill Cheshareck, building and zoning officer.
When Menards was being constructed, the city required it to do a brick front and made requests on fencing to ensure the project would look nice, he said.
"We went to great lengths to make that building look as clean as possible . . . I'm just against the location," Cheshareck said.
City Fire Marshal Bob Coleman agreed with Cheshareck and also had concerns with the fueling station becoming busier later as green fuel becomes more popular and, if that is the case, he would rather see it to the west of the building, rather than in the middle of the lot.
Black said 36 of the fueling stations are planned to be installed in Illinois and that Morris has already received calls from FedEx and UPS asking to use the station.
"It's kind of the wave of the future," he said, adding that, in Springfield, the police department is changing 25 of its squad vehicles to propane use.
In both Joliet and Woodstock, he said, the stations were approved with their locations in the middle of the lot. Black agreed to go to corporate with the requests, but was concerned about the new location cutting into the semi lane to the store's yard.
DRC members said if Menards will deed over some of the property on its neighboring parcel, the store should have enough space for the station and truck lane.
PILOT TRAVEL CENTER
Representatives from Pilot Travel Centers were supposed to attend the DRC meeting regarding their proposal for a new gas station in Morris, but due to having to change their proposal, they decided to come next month instead, said Mayor Richard Kopczick.
They came before the DRC last month with a preliminary introduction of the gas station they want to put north of Interstate 80. It will be located on the east side of Illinois 47, and on the south side of Mall Road, across from Costco.
The plans indicate it will also house a Subway and have a Pilot deli selling other food products. It will be open 24 hours.
Upon further discussion with the city, the company realized it will need to construct a road and it, therefore, needs to condense its plan, said Cheshareck after the meeting. The company also wants to request a few variances, including one for its two signs heights, as well as the square footage for one of the signs.
City Attorney Scott Belt also expressed concern with Pilot's use of stucco and whether this fits into the city's building code. This will be discussed further with the DRC.
