By Jason Crane
At the Aurora city government Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting Tuesday, through the Zoom video conferencing platform, the City Council viewed a plan to fill the large and long vacant building that housed the former Lowe’s and Cosmopolitan Market:
• Consent was given to an ordinance approving a revision to the Greenfield Partnership Plan description on 13.8 acres for the property at 2372 W. Indian Trail, the former Lowe’s and Cosmopolitan Market on the City’s West Side.
The plan would allow the building to be used for a subscription-based, ready-to-eat, refrigerated meal service company. Office space will make-up approximately 35,500 square feet of the building. The remaining 100,774 square feet will be used as a commercial kitchen, packaging, and storage area.
Factor 75, Inc. opened a facility in Burr Ridge a little more than 1 year ago and they are already nearing capacity.
The Aurora facility will be five times the size of the Burr Ridge facility and they are planning to be live in December.
Factor 75’s plans for reuse of this building that has sat vacant for several years will bring approximately 230 employees to the area, which should provide additional business to the neighboring stores and restaurants.
Factor 75 representatives stated that based on their experience at their current facility in Burr Ridge, their use does not produce any noxious odors or other environmental hazards because it is limited to food preparation, packaging, and storage. Traffic impact to surrounding areas should be minimal. The site sits right off of major arterials, is already used for truck traffic with the adjacent warehouse uses, and the previous uses required truck deliveries. The petitioner expects truck traffic to be limited to 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.. There is ample parking spaces. The site has 520 spaces.
The City Council gave consent to the following agenda items:
• A resolution directing the preparation of an ordinance establishing a civilian review board to review matters involving the police department.
This is to lay the foundation for the creation and implementation of City policy with respect to the establishment of a civilian review board (“CRB”) and to direct the preparation of an ordinance creating a CRB and defining its powers and duties.
The City of Aurora’s CHANGE (Community Helping Aurora’s Necessary Growth and Empowerment) reform initiative was created in June in response to the national civil unrest and national calls for change in policing. The CHANGE reform initiative focused on strengthening police and community relations and accountability through a multi-phased approach of reviewing law enforcement policies and procedures and exploring new implementations. See page 1
Final approval is set to be made at the October 13 Aurora City Council meeting.