Expansion plans for Space Self Storage were halted last week when the Wheeling, Ill., Village Board of Trustees voted against the necessary rezoning for the project. Space had requested the board rezone its current site at 2500 E. Hintz Road from residential to neighborhood commercial along with an adjacent property it owns at 2730 Jackson Drive. It also had asked for a text amendment to the village code and special-use site-plan approval, as well as the creation of a buffer zone between the self-storage facility and residential area. The board unanimously denied the rezoning despite recommendation from the planning commission, the source reported. Only trustee Joe Vito voted in favor of the other requests.

Trustees argued the rezoning was incompatible with village code and its comprehensive plan. Board president Dean Argiris also implied rezoning the properties would set a bad precedent. “I see many variances to the zoning,” he said during the meeting. “To approve changing zoning without going through the laws of zoning [would be a bad idea],”Argiris said.

Three residents also spoke against the rezoning during the meeting, arguing the storage facility’s expansion would discourage continued development of single-family homes in the area, according to the source.

The storage operator had argued the present legal, nonconforming status of the property has made it “impossible” to get financing for the project, according to the source. Expansion is necessary because the current facility is full.

Space Self Storage comprises 700 units and serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Prospect Heights and Wheeling, Ill. It has owned the Jackson Drive property since 1992.

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