Westmont board delays Great Lakes Plumbing loading-dock plan after neighbors raise noise and safety concerns

Trustees on the Village of Westmont Board postponed action on a major site-plan request from Great Lakes Plumbing & Heating after residents described ongoing noise and safety problems and the company proposed a set of mitigation measures.

Mitchell Dvorak, the contractor representing Great Lakes, told the board the company has already limited disposal hours, switched to a smaller scrap dumpster, added sound-absorbing dock levelers and adjusted lighting. “We’ve restricted disposal hours, so nothing can be thrown in our dumpsters before 12:30 p.m.,” Dvorak said, adding the proposed dock would reduce flatbed loading time from “about 2 days” to roughly four hours and thereby cut noise duration.

Several neighbors urged rejection or relocation of the dock. Vicky O’Pear, who lives directly behind the site, read a 2024 complaint and said construction-type noise sometimes starts as early as 5 a.m. “I don’t even want to think of what the construction of this project is going to entail,” she told trustees, and reported a petition collecting more than 200 signatures opposing the plan.

Board members pressed both sides for clearer, enforceable terms. Village counsel told trustees they may impose site-plan conditions tied to zoning standards and incorporate mitigation commitments into an ordinance that would be enforceable through administrative adjudication and fines. Trustees voted to postpone the item for two board meetings to allow staff to work with the company and affected residents to produce written, enforceable safeguards (including planting, fencing, specific hours and monitoring) for the board to consider.

The planning-and-zoning commission had recommended denial; trustees said the delay aims to reduce neighborhood impacts while recognizing the use is permitted in the manufacturing district. The board did not approve the site plan; it will revisit the item after staff presents proposed conditions.