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Motorcycle, scooter store in the works
Updated: November 5, 2011 1:29PM
A new motorcycle and scooter store planned for the east end of Skokie rolled through the Plan Commission Thursday with a unanimous recommendation.
Roll-On Cycle Shop is seeking a special use permit to open a new business that would sell, repair and store motorcycles and scooters at a facility at 3700 Oakton St.
The area is zoned for light manufacturing and does not abut residential districts. Roll-On Cycle Shop would occupy a vacant facility currently being leased by owner Jessica Diamond and occupying more than 6,173 square feet.
The Village Board must sign off on the special use permit at a future meeting, but it will have the unanimous Plan Commission recommendation and project support by village staff as a guide.
“There is definitely a demand for this type of business in the area,” Diamond said.
Diamond is also seeking relief from village code requiring five off-street parking spaces when her plan calls for only two. This change was also supported by village staff and the Plan Commission.
Village planners said that the five spaces are not needed because of the “unique operation of the business” — smaller sizes of motor vehicles being repaired, no large repair lifts and machinery on site and smaller parking spaces required for these types of motor vehicles.
Another factor, planners said, is that Roll-On Cycle Shop would provide 10 parking spaces for motorcycles, which planners believe will be the most popular mode of transportation for customers visiting the business.
Roll-On Cycle Shop’s hours are planned for 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week, Diamond said.
The business would include three employees including Diamond, two who work in the sales area at the front of the store and a mechanic who would repair the vehicles in the rear of the shop.
An existing garage door fronting the public alley would provide the applicant with six motorcycle and scooter service bays at the rear of the building, village planners said. The service area also has space to accommodate stored motorcycles.
The remaining space inside the building would accommodate sales offices, other storage, a shipping and receiving room and a conference room.
