TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dustin Anderson, Director of Community Development
SUBJECT:
title
Ordinance Approving a Variation of Use to Allow an Indoor and Outdoor Commercial Recreation Facility, a B-3 (General Business) Use, in the R-B (Restricted Business) District, Located at 749 Houbolt Road (ZBA 2026-10)
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BACKGROUND:
The petitioner and contract purchaser, Dive Right In Scuba, Inc., is requesting a Variation of Use to allow an indoor and outdoor commercial recreation facility within the R-B (restricted business) zoning district at 749 Houbolt Road. The site contains an existing recreation facility that was developed in the 1980s for the Greater Joliet Area YMCA. The YMCA operated the Galowich Family branch at this location until it permanently closed at the end of April. Because the YMCA is a non-profit organization, the facility was categorized as a “public and semi-public building,” which is a permitted use in the R-B district. The petitioner’s proposal is for a commercial facility, which is a permitted use in the B-3 (general business) district. Therefore, the petitioner needs a Variation of Use to occupy and use the existing facility components for their commercial proposal at this location.
The site currently contains an approximately 25,000-square-foot building with an indoor swimming pool, indoor basketball courts, and a fitness center. The site also contains surface parking around the building, two baseball fields, an outdoor walking track, and open grass fields. The petitioner’s proposal, called The Flex, will include several primary uses that are similar to the existing operations at the facility and will use many of the existing facility components. These proposed uses include: aquatics programming, including swimming instruction, using the existing indoor swimming pool; indoor basketball for a local youth organization (No Mercy Basketball) on the existing indoor courts; retail and training areas related to scuba instruction and aquatics programming; outdoor youth sports programming on the existing outdoor athletic fields; and a leased snack bar space. The petitioner intends to partner with local youth organizations to promote youth athletics and to fully use all amenities of the existing facility. A full business narrative is included in the Zoning Board staff report packet.
The facility will be owned and managed by Dive Right In Scuba, which has two existing locations in Plainfield and Orland Park. They offer a variety of retail, repair, and training services related to diving, as well as a swim program at their Orland Park location.
The petitioner states that the facility will support around 30 to 35 employees at full operation. Proposed hours of operation are 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, seven days per week. There are approximately 104 existing off-street parking spaces, which meets the requirement for the proposed use. There are no exterior modifications proposed to the building or to the site at this time.
The Zoning Ordinance requires that unlighted outdoor recreation facilities not be within 200 feet of a single-family residential zoning district. The existing outdoor baseball fields and walking track are within 200 feet of the property to the south, which is zoned R-1 (single-family residential). This adjacent property is owned by Joliet Junior College and currently used for agricultural purposes. At their meeting on April 16, 2026, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved a Variation from this spacing requirement to allow the existing unlighted outdoor facilities to remain as is. There are no proposed additions to the outdoor facilities nor does the petitioner have plans to install outdoor lighting at this time. It should be noted that per the Zoning Ordinance, pedestrian lighting and security lighting do not constitute “lighting” as it pertains to unlighted versus lighted outdoor fields.
The request meets the criteria for a variation of use. The subject property is set up to be used as an indoor and outdoor recreational facility and would not be practically used for other permitted uses in the R-B district, such as professional offices or medical facilities. The petitioner’s proposal for a multi-use indoor and outdoor sports, aquatics, and recreation facility is very similar to the historical and current use of the property.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING:
The Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing on this matter on April 16, 2026. Kathleen West, attorney for the petitioner, and Mike Pederson, petitioner with Dive Right In Scuba, represented the petition. No one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the petition. Meeting minutes are attached.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS:
recommendation
Ralph Bias moved that the Zoning Board of Appeals recommend approval of the Variation of Use to allow an indoor and outdoor commercial recreation facility, a B-3 (general business) use, in the R-B (restricted business) district, located at 749 Houbolt Road, subject to the following conditions:
1. Should the property be declared a public nuisance, the property may be subject to a rehearing and a possible revocation of the Variation of Use.
Bob Nachtrieb seconded the motion, which passed with five (5) aye votes and no nay votes. Voting aye were: Bias, Hennessy, Nachtrieb, Radakovich, and Stiff. Voting nay were: none. Absent were: McGrath Schmig.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Staff concurs with the recommendation of the Zoning Board of Appeals and recommends that the Mayor and City Council adopt the following, subject to the same conditions approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals above:
1. Ordinance Approving a Variation of Use to Allow an Indoor and Outdoor Commercial Recreation Facility, a B-3 (General Business) Use, in the R-B (Restricted Business) District, Located at 749 Houbolt Road
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