Zoning for Wheeling landscaper becomes issue after 27 years

A landscaping business that was annexed into Wheeling in 1988 is now under scrutiny from village officials for operating in an area zoned residential.

AB Sanchez Landscaping, near Hintz Road and Jackson Drive. had already been in business for years before different portions of the land were voluntarily and involuntarily annexed 28 years ago.

"It was recommended to him (the business owner) that he could keep them for the same purpose, and essentially for the last 25 years or so, that's been the case," said attorney Alan Stefaniak, who is representing the business.

But after AB Sanchez said it was interested in expanding to the north, village officials began questioning whether the business should be allowed to stay at all.

Village President Dean Argiris said that the business has been improperly zoned since it was annexed.

"Past administrations did nothing; now we're doing something," Argiris said.

The village has notified the business that it is in violation of the zoning code and the matter is in the legal review process, Village Manager Jon Sfondilis said.

AB Sanchez co-owner Bobby Sanchez said the company hadn't heard from the village regarding zoning violations until recently.

"We've been here for so long, and we've been issued permits for different things," Sanchez said.

He said the business employs between 20 and 30 people, depending on the year.

AB Sanchez owns parcels to the north of its current operations, which were zoned residential when the owners bought them.

"We could live without it (the expansion to the north) if that would be the direction the village would want to take," Stefaniak said.

The empty parcels are heavily wooded and can be used as an additional buffer for the business, Stefaniak said.

"Their operation has not prohibited or adversely affected people building properties to the north," he said.

But Argiris and some trustees say the business interferes with current and future residential development in the area.

AB Sanchez Landscaping can apply for rezoning, Village Attorney Jim Ferolo said. The application would go to the plan commission, and a public hearing would be set.

The plan commission would make a recommendation, and the village board would have the final say.

In a straw poll taken at Monday's village board meeting to see if trustees would consider rezoning the land for the business, Trustee Joe Vito was the lone "yes" vote.

"I have a hard time saying the entire operation is impermissible. I do have a problem with the two additional pieces of property because they were zoned when you bought them," Vito said. "I just feel horrible if they came in here to do a little expansion and now we're going to throw them out of town."

Argiris said there are plenty of other places where the business could relocate in the village.

Rezoning "sets a bad precedent," Argiris said. "It's spot zoning, and you just can't do that." Some trustees were conflicted in whether they should take into consideration the history of the business.

Trustee Mary Krueger, who lives down the street, said: "As much as I would love your family to stay and be neighbors because you've been great neighbors, I don't think this board now can continue to not address something that hasn't been addressed for 25 years. This is an opportunity for us to right a wrong."

Stefaniak said he's presented his clients with their options.

"I'm not sure what they're going to do," he said. "They'll have to think about it."