Amazon Revealed As Mystery Company Behind Massive Geneva Warehouse Project; Neighbors Urge City To Reject Plan
CHICAGO (CBS) -- New public records suggest Amazon plans to run a massive warehouse planned for west suburban Geneva – the first time the company behind the mystery project has been revealed – but the company is still being tight-lipped about their plans.
Residents tell Morning Insider Tim McNicholas they're doing whatever they can to stop the project.
It's not just pumpkins and scarecrows planted on lawns in this Geneva subdivision.
Signs oppose a 278,000-square-foot distribution center proposed about a block away, where rows of corn grow today.
"We don't need it," resident Matthew Lutz said.
"Why do we need Amazon rolling through where we're at?" C.J. Engel said.
The owners of some of those signs met at a local park this week to voice their frustrations on the project, which would include truck and trailer parking for the warehouse.
"It'll just overall create a lot of noise," Hendryk Riek said.
"It does not fit at all with the character of Geneva, Illinois," Michele Rathman said.
"Just huge implications, not only for our neighborhood, but for the entire tri-city area" Mark Sartell said.
The developer is called Crow Holdings. They say a confidentiality agreement prevents them from revealing what company plans to move in here, but designs the engineer recently submitted to the city show Amazon's logo and the documents list an Amazon email address.
An Amazon spokesperson told CBS 2 the company won't discuss future plans.
"We just don't really understand what is the need for the secrecy. If it's good for the community, there shouldn't be any reason not to say who you are or what your intentions are," Riek said.
The plan has not been approved by the city of Geneva, but the city council is expected to vote on it Monday.
At a committee meeting a few weeks ago, dozens of residents expressed their concerns, and a local truck driver called in to support it.
"We have changed over the years. Why can't we accept change now? Its not the end of the world," David Hermes said.
Crow Holdings argues the project will create hundreds of jobs and stimulate the economy.
"As we've looked at Amazon, and the history of their job creation, we see those are relatively low-paying jobs, that there's tremendous turnover within those warehouses," Sartell said.
Now these neighbors are reaching out to council members, asking them to say no too.
Crow Holdings previously told us they hoped to break ground this month, and open the warehouse next August, but again, they still need city approval.
We reached out the city and Crow Holdings for this story and neither one would answer our questions.
