Fertility clinic proposed for downtown Naperville

• Reprints

Updated: April 27, 2012 11:51AM

A fertility clinic may be built in downtown Naperville, but some are not thrilled at the prospect.

By a unanimous vote, the Naperville Plan Commission Wednesday night sent a plan for the fertility clinic to the full City Council with a positive recommendation.

Medical Properties LLC came before the commission to request a conditional use permit for a two-story clinic at the northwest corner of Benton Avenue and Washington Street.

The proposed clinic would combine two existing lots and include a surgery center and an in vitro fertilization clinic on the first floor and office space on the second.

“The use is a permitted use,” Community Planner Suzanne Thorsen told the commission. “Staff finds that it does meet the recommendations” of Naperville’s plan for its downtown.

The conditional uses sought for the project fall into several categories, among them reducing the setback needed from the street, a variance for a sign and altering the required number of on-site parking spaces.

City code would require 11 parking spaces on the property. The developer is looking to have no off-street parking. According to its plan, those using the facility could park in the nearby Van Buren Parking Deck. City staff said that parking in the deck shouldn’t be a problem, since the facility will be used mainly in the daytime when there are typically plenty of spaces available in the deck.

Moreover, as part of a special service taxing area, property owners pay an additional tax that partially funds maintenance of parking decks.

Some public speakers at the meeting, however, had some concerns about the facility.

Resident John Scanlon said that the building would not be a good fit for the area. He said it would “dwarf” the buildings around it.

“This building will not preserve the small-town character of downtown,” he said.

Dr. Richard Pugliese, a longtime resident, was concerned about general traffic congestion the facility might create downtown, but also questioned the need for such a medical facility in the downtown area. He said that, unlike the downtown, there are other places around the city that have a concentration of medical uses.

He also said the fertility clinic will generate plenty of opposition from some residents on moral grounds.

“Many people oppose the practice,” he said.

The facility would “cause signficiant irritation and opposition among these families,” he said.

Noting Naperville’s reputation as a great place to raise children, he said he didn’t think the clinic “will enhance that child-friendly reputation in any way.”

He also said the public will want to be heard on the matter. He said there will probably be a “significant turnout” when the City Council discusses the proposal.