The Lombard Village Board approved major changes to the Burj Plaza shopping center on Roosevelt Road. The Oct. 15 vote clears the way for an expanded building, a taller banquet hall canopy and a new digital sign at the former Dania site.

The board gave final approval on second reading to four modifications requested by developer Burj Plaza LLC for the property at 501-593 W. Roosevelt Road and 1210 S. Finley Road, as first reported by Lombard Community News.

A two-story outbuilding near Roosevelt Road will expand to absorb a previously planned ground-floor patio into the building itself, with open second-floor seating overlooking the road. The banquet hall's passenger drop-off canopy will nearly double in height, rising from 20 feet to 39 feet, 6 inches.

A shopping center sign on Finley Road will add an 18-square-foot digital panel, slightly above the 16-square-foot code limit, requiring a variance. Parking drops from 688 to 686 spaces.

Anna Papke, Lombard's planning and zoning manager and lead staff person on the project, said the overall site plan remains largely the same as what the board approved in 2025. She said the modifications qualified as major changes under the Village Code and required a public hearing process with both the Plan Commission and the village board.

The Lombard Plan Commission recommended approval 7-0 on Sept. 21, with a key condition: the banquet facility's maximum occupancy cannot exceed 1,400 attendees, down from 1,500 in the original plan, based on a parking evaluation by traffic consultant KLOA. At the Sept. 21 hearing, Pointe West condo residents raised concerns about parking lot lights shining into their units and traffic on Finley Road, according to Plan Commission minutes.

Papke told the village board that no new traffic signals are part of the Burj Plaza plans. A signal where Burj Plaza, Mariano's and Pointe West driveways meet Finley Road would require coordination among the three developments, the village and the Illinois Department of Transportation. Roosevelt Road is a state right-of-way, and the existing signal at Roosevelt and Finley sits about 665 feet from that intersection.

District 45 warns of cuts

At the same meeting, School District 45 Superintendent Dr. Brian Graber told the board that four of the district's six elementary schools are in Lombard or unincorporated Lombard.

Graber addressed a Tuesday, Nov. 3 referendum requesting roughly $4.4 million in additional annual revenue. According to District 45, the proposal would increase the tax rate by 26.7 cents per $100 of equalized assessed value. The owner of a $350,000 home would pay about $299 more per year.

A similar referendum in March fell short by fewer than 200 votes out of 7,400 cast, Graber said. After that defeat, the district cut about $1.7 million in classroom teacher, reading specialist and advanced academics positions, along with intramural sports, choir and musicals.

"These reductions are just the beginning of what will be needed to address our ongoing funding gap," Graber said. A failed referendum would force an additional $2.5 million in spending cuts over the next four years, he added.

Those cuts could include additional teaching positions, school clubs, one or more school closures and redrawing of school boundaries, Graber said. A successful vote would restore programs cut for the current year and a number of teaching and support positions for next year.

Voters will see the question on the Nov. 3 ballot.