MAHOMET — The Mahomet Village Board will soon consider whether to approve a conditional-use permit for a Travel Center of America facility in the wake of opposition from community members and some members of the plan and zoning commission.
The commission, which is a “recommending body,” voted 3-2 Tuesday night to not recommend approval of the permit application to the village board, Village Administrator Patrick Brown said.
Mandi Simeone, Mike Buzicky and Phil Schaefer voted in favor of the motion not to recommend, while Bob Buchanan and Robert DeAtley were against it.
Brown said that the village board will likely discuss the matter at its Nov. 19 study session and consider at that time whether to put it to a vote at its next regular meeting or table the topic.
When asked what may have motivated commissioners to oppose the proposal, he replied that one or two cited the sentiments of community members as a factor.
Members of the public who spoke during the well-attended meeting expressed concerns about the proposed development’s proximity to neighborhoods and how it might impact air quality, traffic, noise and even crime, Brown said.
Developers are proposing to build the travel center on 15.73 acres of vacant land at Clark Street off Prairieview Road, north of Interstate 74. The center would include 84 parking spaces for cars and 113 for semi trucks, as well as eight auto gas pumps and nine semi gas pumps.
The proposal also includes a 14,800-square-foot building with retail and restaurants.
Additionally, the travel center would accommodate truckers by providing overnight accommodations.
Brown declined to state his opinion on whether the development would benefit the community.
However, he said that part of his job is to provide financial analysis on potential projects, and he believes that, if built, the travel center would be the highest-assessed commercial, non-residential development in the village in terms of property taxes.
Brown’s conservative estimate was that the development would produce approximately $100,000 annually in property taxes for the local school district. He also expected it to be “the biggest sales tax producer in the village.”
“The community has always said they want a lot of things, but there’s not a lot of money out there to pay for what the community wants,” he said. “And … there’s not a lot of willingness to support tax increases.”
Nevertheless, he emphasized that decisions shouldn’t be based purely on financial factors but also on what is in the “best interest” of the community.
