Alderman Flores rejects zoning for dry cleaner
EVA treasurer Brodi Cole accompanied Ald. Manny Flores (1st Ward) on a tour of a Lake View dry-cleaning plant March 14 after members declined to support a zoning change to open a similar plant on Chicago Avenue. The alderman's office issued this statement on March 30:
I am writing to give you an update regarding the proposed zoning change at 1916 W. Chicago Avenue. As you may recall, the CD One Price Cleaners company was interested in renting out the commercial space at the above address to open a dry cleaning pick-up site with an on-premise dry cleaning plant. This necessitated a change in the zoning from B3-2 to a C1-2 to allow for an on-premise dry cleaning plant with more than 2 employees.
Before making a final decision on the proposal, I and a few neighbors visited an existing CD One Price Cleaners facility to view the dry cleaning operations. The store was well-lit, well-kept and was a generally well-run operation. However, when I asked employees about the safety and clean-up procedures in place in the event of a solvent spill, I did not get a knowledgeable response from store employees. This was a cause for real concern.
Although CD One Price Cleaners does not use the highly toxic perchloroethylene (perc) solvent, it does utilize a hydrocarbon, or petroleum-based, cleaning solvent. The EPA lists this solvent as a neurotoxin and as a skin/eye irritant, necessitating careful and immediate clean-up in the case of a spill.
Therefore, based on the fact that store employees did not appear to be properly trained on safety and clean-up procedures in the event of a solvent spill, I did not feel a sufficient level of comfort to approve a zoning change to allow the CD One Price dry cleaning plant operation at 1916 W. Chicago Avenue.
If you have any additional questions or comments regarding this matter, please feel free to communicate with me via e-mail at ward01@cityofchicago.org or via phone at (773) 278-0101.
Sincerely,
Raymond Valadez
Chief of Staff for
Alderman Manuel Flores
2058 N. Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 278-0101
(773) 278-2541 (fax)
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