Controversy Over Proposed Gas Station in Unincorporated Glen Ellyn

The proposed 1.5-acre Mobil gas station, car wash and Bucky's convenience store in unincorporated Glen Ellyn, at the northeast corner of Route 53 and Butterfield Road, is facing organized opposition from nearby residents and Butterfield Park District officials, the Daily Herald reports.

According to the paper, Buchanan Energy plans to remove many of the trees that form a buffer between the site (once supposed to be a Shell station, in 2000) and a nearby Park District recreational area to build the complex, which has led to fears of smog and visual pollution affecting the rec area.

"[This is] four times as large as the one that had been there in the past," Butterfield Park District executive director Larry Reiner told the paper. "I don't think many people would want to rent out the pavilion for a wedding shower or whatever the case might be... They'll be looking at the back of a car wash and signage from Bucky's."

Buchanan Energy representative Richard McMahon disagreed, saying that a fence, green space and future-growing plantings and trees would create an appropriate barrier, the paper said.

"The park district is making a grab for this land that they can't buy," McMahon told the paper. "It's logical to continue to be used the way it's been used for 50 years. For Larry to get out there and say it shouldn't be now is disingenuous." 

Read the full story at the Daily Herald website.