Land Use: Maple Road Rezoning Near Mokena Clears Committee on 6-0 Vote

Will County Land Use & Development Committee | October 1, 2026

Article Summary: The Will County Board Land Use & Development Committee on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, unanimously recommended rezoning a Maple Road property from A-2 to C-4 and approving three special use permits that would bring businesses already operating at 13148 Maple Road into zoning compliance after a 2004 permit lapsed on sale. It was the only case of the meeting to draw a favorable recommendation.

Maple Road Rezoning Key Points:

• The map amendment passed 6-0; all three accompanying special use permits carried on voice votes without opposition, the last announced as 6-0.
• The Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended approval 5-0, and county staff recommended approval.
• A 2004 special use permit for a landscape business was voided because a condition barred transfer to subsequent owners; the current owner acquired the property in 2021.
• The owners have agreed to a pre-annexation agreement with the Village of New Lenox, under which the property would annex when it becomes contiguous and the village would apply C-3 zoning.

NEW LENOX — The Will County Board Land Use & Development Committee on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, unanimously recommended a map amendment and three special use permits for a property at 13148 Maple Road, Mokena, in New Lenox Township, where businesses are already operating without current zoning authorization.

The requests were filed under zoning case ZC-26-015, with Faye’s 4.2 LLC as owner of record, Trevor Bandauski as agent and Richard Kavanagh of KGG LLC as attorney. The parcel, PIN 15-08-02-100-012-0000, sits in County Board District 4.

The map amendment (M-26-004) from A-2 to C-4 passed 6-0, with Pretzel, Newquist, Brooks, Bullock, Mitchell and Ogalla all voting yes, on a motion by Ogalla seconded by Newquist. The three special use permits — for uses the applicant characterized as similar or compatible to construction sales and services (S-26-008), to an auto rebuilder in a completely enclosed building (S-26-021), and to vehicle storage and towing (S-26-022) — each carried on voice votes with no opposition, the last announced as 6-0. The rezoning and permits take effect only if the full County Board adopts them.

Development Analyst I Jesus Briseno explained the compliance history. The property received a special use permit for a landscape business with outdoor storage in 2004, under zoning case 5318-S, when the A-2 district allowed such a use. A condition on that permit barred transfer to future owners, so when the current applicant acquired the property in 2021, the permit became void. The applicant attended a pre-application meeting with staff in 2024 to determine what was needed.

Briseno said the applicant initially sought industrial zoning, where the uses would be allowed by right or by special use, but staff would not recommend it “due to no other industrial zoning districts being found nearby this property.” The applicant then pivoted to C-4 with three similar-or-compatible use requests. Briseno noted the zoning ordinance does not require staff to concur with such requests for a case to be heard.

The staff report states four businesses operate from the site — two landscape businesses, a heavy equipment rental business and a portable toilet supplier — and that staff recommended approval of each special use with two conditions, covering right of entry for inspection on 14 days’ written notice and transferability to subsequent owners. The report lists business hours of 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, four to eight average daily vehicle trips, and 13,500 annual average daily traffic on Maple Road per the Illinois Department of Transportation. The parcel lies in the Hickory Creek Watershed and the New Lenox Facility Planning Area, and conforms to the Land Resource Management Plan as Suburban Communities with a Neighborhood Commercial use concept. No LESA score was calculated.

Kavanagh described the property’s condition at purchase about five years ago. He said the Village of Orland Park had dumped some of the 7,000 trees it removed during the emerald ash borer epidemic on the site, and that the new owners removed well over 100 truckloads of dead trees along with substantial garbage. He said the existing gravel access drive on Maple Road, 12 to 14 feet wide, was replaced with an 18- to 20-foot concrete drive, that the land was leveled, and that the front portion is now effectively a bird and butterfly sanctuary on wetland the owners intend to protect. “We don’t want anything to happen to the wetland,” he said.

Kavanagh identified three tenants: Groundskeeper Services Inc., a landscaping firm serving homeowners and golf courses that predates the current ownership; Think Miner Equipment, which he described as an international company selling parts and heavy equipment and currently located about 15 miles south; and Portable John LLC, which he called the major tenant and said is presently in Lockport. He said the owners of Portable John are the same as the owners of the land, with Dale Bandauski holding 50% of each entity and Trevor and Tyler Bandauski 25% each.

A second building is proposed, which Kavanagh said would be solar and battery powered, with separate space for each of the three tenants.

Kavanagh said the Village of New Lenox is roughly six-tenths of a mile away and is the closest municipality, though the property falls within a mile and a half of Orland Park, Mokena, Frankfort, Homer Glen and New Lenox. He said the owners have agreed to a pre-annexation agreement under which the property would annex automatically once contiguous. “New Lenox wants us to do C-3,” he said, “but they are going to allow us to continue the C-4 special uses until we cease using them. At that point in time, they would go away and only C-3 would be on the property.”

Board member Sherry Newquist asked whether all three uses are currently operating on the site. Briseno confirmed they are.

Objectors appeared at the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing with concerns about businesses located directly next to residential properties, additional traffic on Maple Road and materials stored on the property, Briseno said. No municipality submitted comments. No member of the public spoke on the case at the committee meeting.

“Congratulations to you and your client,” the chair told Kavanagh.