A sketch shows a proposed Hindu temple at 3623 West Lake Ave. in Glenview. (Handout, Village of Glenview)
A group of Hindus looking for a more permanent spiritual home are on track to build a temple in Glenview..
Site plans by Hanuman Spiritual and Community Center, a Hindu nonprofit organization, to construct a 37,200-square-foot, two-story building on 3.9 acres at 3623 West Lake Ave.have been approved by village trustees.
The property was once used as storage for used car salesman Lee Roy Hartung’s collection of antique cars and motorcycles. They were auctioned in 2011 after his death.
Mary Bak, planning and economic development director, said the facility would be the first Hindu temple in Glenview.
“It’d be great to have them in the community,” Bak said, adding that village trustees will again consider the development at Tuesday’s meeting.
The organization, which formed in 2009, includes 75 to 100 members and has been looking to construct a cultural center for some time, according to Lawrence Freedman, a lawyer representing the group. It tried previously to turn a former restaurant in Des Plaines into a house of worship, but weredenied a conditional use permit earlier this year because officials said they wanted to keep the area available for high-density commercial or mixed use, according to Tribune archives.
Glenview’s plan commission recommended the development by a 4-0 vote earlier this fall. Bak said the proposal did not require rezoning because the area allows religious uses.
Freedman said a Hindu facility operates differently than Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, making traffic less a concern.
“They don’t have an organized service,” Freedman said at an earlier plan commission meeting. “It’s more individualized and separated out … People come and go all day.”
The temple’s proposed hours would be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.The center would draw the most people during the weekend. The building would have a 143-spot parking lot.
Freedman said the group hopes to expand to a maximum of 400 people.
During an October public hearing, a few residents who live near the site expressed concern over the height of the structure and their desire for the developers to keep as much as greenery as possible. Some of the building’s spires would rise about 55 feet above the ground.
Trustee Deborah Karton said she hopes the developers compromise with residents on the height.
Trustee Scott Britton, who lives in the area of the proposed development, said he believes the site is good for the temple.
“It certainly seems to be a very good use of the land and something I’d be supportive of,” Britton said.