What’s going on?
HelloFresh (the parent company of Factor 75), a popular meal kit subscription service, operates a cooking and packaging facility located at 2372 W. Indian Trail, Aurora, IL. This facility has been plaguing the neighboring community with cooking fumes from their industrial kitchens and exhaust from diesel delivery trucks and the refrigerated trailers.
Since 2021, residents are experiencing respiratory problems, headaches, nausea, and dizziness from the poor air quality and abundance of strong odors. Tractor trailers and “refer” units idling in the loading dock area subject the residents to the loud, constant drones of engines. Their houses shake pictures off the walls and clank bottles in the fridge for hours at a time.
This community has taken their concerns to the City of Aurora in hopes that they will take action to mitigate the effect of this facility on the community.
Instead of receiving help, members of the community have been ignored and gaslighted. Factor 75 and the City of Aurora need to be held accountable for putting profit over people. They are allowing their taxpaying constituents to suffer all while helping a corporation make more and more money.
Did the City of Aurora make a mistake?
The City of Aurora granted a special use zoning permit to allow Factor to operate in a “Business District – General Retail” zone (B-2). The Aurora zoning laws are available in “References”.
According to the Zoning Ordinance, a special use permits are allowed, however there are restrictions. Certain other activities are allowed given an application and review by the city, however the use defined in the permit (3140 – Processing, Finishing, and Assembly) is not permitted under any circumstance in a B-2 zone.
In a “Business & Wholesale District” (B-3), similar to B-2, has the following restrictions for use 3140. Note that this limited use must be approved by the zoning board.
108.4-4.4. Limited but Permitted Uses
O20-083 Chapter 49 – Code of Ordinances, City of Aurora
A. Processing, finishing and assembly facilities, provided that space
occupied in a building does not exceed six thousand (6,000) square
feet of total floor and basement space, not including stairwells, or
elevator shafts; and provided such processing or assembly can be
conducted without noise, vibration, odor, dust or any other condition
which might be disturbing to occupants of adjacent buildings.
Even IF the zone was B-3 (which it is not), the facility far exceeds the size (137,915 square feet) and is unable to conduct operations (noise, vibrations, odor, etc) without affecting it’s neighbors. It is clear that this type of facility should not be operating in any kind of retail zone.
The City of Aurora made a mistake when they granted this special use permit to Factor. They broke their own ordinances to allow a large corporation to operate in a place that they should never be able to.
Did Factor lie?
It is unclear whether Factor blatantly lied to the City of Aurora, or if the effects of the facility were reasonably unexpected.
As part of the permitting process, Factor submitted forms and addressed the Aurora City Council in a hearing. The permit application and a transcript of the hearing can be found in “References”. Below are statements made by Factor to the City of Aurora.
Factor’s operation is not expected to have an impact on the surrounding properties. Based on our experience at our Burr Ridge facility we do not produce any noxious odors or generate any environmental hazards and our operation in Aurora will operate the same or better as we optimize our delivery schedules, waste and recycling capability and install state of the art equipment throughout the facility.
Land Use Petition – 2020-09-15 – 2020
It is very apparent that the facility DOES have an impact on the surrounding properties due to odors and air contaminants. The facility that Factor based this statement on, located in a business park (industrial zone) at 340 Shore Dr, Burr Ridge, IL, is a quarter-mile from the nearest home with a 68,000 square foot wooded area in between. The Aurora facility is less than 150 feet from the nearest home, separated by a berm with a run-down fence. NOTE: as of 2023, a new “sound barrier” wall has been constructed. Unfortunately, the wall does nothing to mitigate any effects except for light pollution.
Factor’s Kitchen and Packaging operates from 6am – 8pm Sunday through Saturday with Sanitation from 8pm – 2am. All activities are very quiet and will not disturb the surrounding neighbors. In- and out- bound truck traffic is expected to be in keeping or reduced from previous site usage with typical movement taking place only from 6am until 5pm; In-bound trucks (trailers and box trucks) 5-7/day Monday – Saturday and 3 – 5/day out-bound trailers Saturday – Monday. The nearby neighborhood is well protected by berms from noise and visual impact as well.
Land Use Petition – 2020-09-15 – 2020
Data from air quality sensors, as well residents self-reporting strong odors, shows that the kitchen does in-fact operate outside of the 6am – 8pm window as stated by Factor. Workers there have told members of the community that the kitchens work around the clock in 3 shifts.
The activities are not quiet and do have a visual impact on the neighborhood. Residents report loud noises and shaking due to operations and deliveries. At night, their backyards are fully lit up by the loading dock lighting. Residents have reported having to tape blackout curtains around their windows to completely stop the light from entering their home.
Rumbling of the trucks and diesel fumes are present outside of the 6am – 5pm window. At the request of the City and residents, Factor implemented a “No Idling” policy and put a up a sign at various locations on the property. Unfortunately, this rule has never been enforced. Trucks continue to idle at all times of day, which create noise, fumes, and vibrations that shake the neighboring homes.
What proof do we have?
Consumer grade air quality monitors have been purchased by residents, lent to us by community organizations, and also loaned as part of a program from the U.S. EPA midwest office in Chicago.
Data collected includes particulate matter, VOCs, CO2, and CO.
To briefly summarize the findings, the homes closest to the facility see spikes in these readings on a regular basis, sometimes lasting for hours. These elevated readings coincide with self-reported illness from these residents (e.g. resident reports respiratory problems and headaches during a spike in particulate matter concentrations). All of the collected data is available in interactive graphs or for download on the “Data” page.
Pictures and videos taken by the residents show idling trucks and trailers in front, on the side, and behind the facility behind a clearly displayed “No Idling” sign, directly contradicting what Factor and the City of Aurora are claiming. Photos also show the effect of light in the backyards of the residents at night. All of these can be found on the “Photos” page.
In addition to this, the Illinois EPA has issued a violation notice (see References) to the facility for failing to obtain and pay for permits for the installation and operation of natural gas fired ovens, as well as not submitting an Annual Emissions Report to the IEPA. It is unclear whether Factor has responded to this violation.
How has Factor responded?
Factor made a presentation to City Counsel to address concerns from the residents. This presentation was recorded and is available in “References”.
In this presentation, Factor stated that at least $1 million was to be spent on mitigation efforts, including constructing a new barrier wall on top of the existing berm, replacing lighting with downward-facing fixtures, and installing air cleaners to the building exhaust. The construction of the wall was finished in 2023.
Construction has not started on additional air filtration units.
What needs to happen now?
Factor 75 and the City of Aurora must be held accountable. The inaction from the Mayor’s office and the 5th Ward Alderman, to the gaslighting of the residents to downplay their claims is outright shameful, and should not be tolerated in any level of government.
Factor needs to compensate residents for their suffering and completely remove any effect that they are having or will have on the community. If their proposed mitigation efforts do not do this, Factor must relocate to a manufacturing district, where it belongs.