Turano Baking Company is extending its Oak Park footprint along Roosevelt Road. After purchasing and then demolishing an old Salvation Army resale store in 2022, the company sought to convert the land for added parking.
Oak Park’s village board unanimously approved the bread purveyor’s parking request on Feb. 7, even permitting a zoning variance to allow Turano delivery trucks and vans to park in the Oak Park lot.
Oak Park zoning code prohibits the parking of vehicles associated with a building or use outside of the community, according to Village Planner Craig Failor. Since Turano’s manufacturing and delivery operation takes place in the Turano facility just across Roosevelt Road in Berwyn, parking trucks in the Oak Park lot would be a zoning violation. That regulation has been in place since 2002.
“I don’t think it’s ever been challenged until now,” Failor said.
Eight spaces were requested to be used for overflow parking when no space is available at their Berwyn facility, where delivery vans and trucks are stored. The off-site trucks will not be used for daily deliveries. Turano also intends to put in solar paneled carports.
The Plan Commission unanimously recommended recently that the village board both allow the parking lot expansion but also lift the restriction prohibiting truck parking. Village staff recommended leaving the restriction in place. The village board ultimately sided with the commission.
