TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Beth Beatty, City Manager
SUBJECT:
title
Ordinances Associated with 3340 Mall Loop Drive:
Ordinance Approving a Variation of Use to Allow a B-3 (General Business) Use in the B-2 (Central Business) Zoning District, Located at 3340 Mall Loop Drive (ZBA 2024-31)
Ordinance Approving a Special Use Permit to Allow a Massage Therapy Business, Located at 3340 Mall Loop Drive (ZBA 2024-32)
end
BACKGROUND:
The petitioner, Xanxia Zhang, is requesting a Special Use Permit and corresponding Variation of Use to allow a massage therapy business (Relax the Body) within a tenant space in the Louis Joliet Mall at 3340 Mall Loop Drive. Per the City of Joliet Zoning Ordinance, massage businesses may be allowed as special uses in the B-3 zoning district by the Mayor and City Council, with the advice of the Zoning Board of Appeals. The mall building and parking areas are zoned B-2 (central business).
The petitioner has had an active massage therapy license from the state of Illinois since 2013 and has previously worked as a massage therapist. The petitioner would be the only licensed massage therapist on staff initially, but might hire up to three additional massage therapists in the future. The petitioner has already completed the background check as part of their City business license application. Any additional massage therapists would need to complete the background check and provide proof of their state license to the City’s Business Services Division before they could be employed with the proposed business.
The tenant space in question is 1,260 square feet and has its main entrance within the mall; there is no separate exterior entrance. The proposed layout would include three massage tables, three foot massage tables, and three massage chairs. Proposed hours of operation are the same as the mall hours, which are Monday through Thursday 11 AM to 7 PM, Friday and Saturday 10 AM to 8 PM, and Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM.
The tenant space for the proposed business is within Louis Joliet Mall, which encompasses approximately 66 acres for the mall building and surrounding parking lots. The mall contains approximately 320,000 square feet of leasable area (excluding the four anchor spaces), with around 80 businesses currently in operation, including clothing stores, restaurants, and service businesses such as a nail salon and hair salon. The massage therapy business will not be harmful to or impede the use and development of other businesses and operations within or surrounding the mall. The tenant space is adequately sized for the proposed business. The mall has ample parking and existing building ingress and egress that will serve the proposed business.
ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS PUBLIC HEARING:
The Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing on this matter on June 20, 2024. Xanxia Zhang, petitioner and business owner, represented the petition. No one appeared or submitted comments 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 a B-3 (general business) use in the B-2 (central business) zoning district and the Special Use Permit to allow a massage therapy business at 3340 Mall Loop Drive, subject to the following conditions:
1. That a City business license shall be obtained.
2. That the Special Use granted shall herein terminate and lapse unless a building permit or certificate of occupancy is obtained not later than 180 days of the effective date of this ordinance and the erection or alteration of a building is started or the use is commenced within such period. The Board may grant an extension of this period, valid for no more than one hundred and eighty (180) additional days, upon written application and good cause shown without notice or hearing. Whether or not there is an intention to abandon the Special Use, if any special use is discontinued for a continuous period of one year, or if an intent to abandon the Special Use is evident in a shorter period of time, the Special Use for such use shall become void, and such use shall not thereafter be reestablished unless a new Special Use Permit is obtained.
3. Should the property be declared a public nuisance, it shall be subject to a rehearing and a possible revocation of the Special Use Permit.
Bob Nachtrieb seconded the motion, which passed with four (4) aye votes and no nay votes. Voting aye were: Riggs, Nachtrieb, Alessio, and Bias. Voting nay were: none. Absent were: Roehr and Hennessy.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
The Administration 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 a B-3 (general business) use in the B-2 (central business) zoning district, located at 3340 Mall Loop Drive
2. Ordinance approving a Special Use Permit to allow a massage therapy business, located at 3340 Mall Loop Drive
end