The Motor Werks auto dealership’s proposed expansion of its Barrington campus will undergo further scrutiny by village officials and residents next week.
The plan commission will reconvene Sept. 30 as it considers the proposal, which calls for ta new Porsche facility, a parking garage with restaurant and retail elements, an expanded showroom and another high-end dealership to the site on Dundee Road between Barrington Road and Grove Avenue.
The site plan for the proposed expansion of the Motor Werks of Barrington campus.
Courtesy of Barrington
The proposal has met with vocal opposition from residents of the surrounding neighborhoods in Barrington and Inverness, many of whom attended the commission’s meeting last week.
They shared frustrations with disturbances associated with trucks delivering cars and car alarms going off in the dealership’s parking lot.
Commission Chair Anna Markley Bush added to the complaints.
“I’m one of those people who lives in that neighborhood, and I am here to tell you that every morning there’s a truck someplace. And they do make noise at night, and the brakes do squeal,” she said.
She also recalled how someone test driving a Mercedes convertible through the Park Barrington subdivision at about 60 mph almost hit her husband and their dog.
Resident Britt Casey said the small-town feel that attracted him to Barrington is threatened by the proposal.
“The community charm is going to be irrevocably altered by the ongoing zoning variation requests of a private enterprise with aspirations of an auto candy store replacing our hometown charm for their commercial gain,” he said.
But Motor Werks attorney Betsy Gates-Alford defended the proposal, saying the new buildings would be built on paved areas already used for parking.
“The buildings will replace open parking, and substitute parking will be consolidated into the parking structure primarily,” she said.
Residents have made suggestions to alter the proposal, including by relocating the parking garage behind the existing Cadillac dealership.
Gates-Alford, however, said that is not feasible because it would encroach upon a detention area.
“Because of the lower grade in that area, it would not allow for the possibility of underground parking,” she said.
The additional enclosed parking would improve safety and reduce noise, she added.
Bush reminded the residents that commission members are looking out for the village’s best interests.
“Remember, we all live in Barrington as well,” she said. “Some of us live very close to this development. We’re residents too. We’re concerned about the quality of our village just as much as you are.”
The commission is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30, at Barrington’s White House, 145 W Main St.