Parking concerns linger as trustees approve latest addition to Wilmette’s Westlake Plaza

Westlake Plaza’s soon-to-be newest tenant now has the green light to move in, but village trustees continued to voice concerns about parking availability in the west Wilmette shopping center.

Wilmette’s Village Board on Tuesday, June 23 unanimously granted a special-use request for Skinflection Spa to operate out of Westlake Plaza, 3223 Lake Ave.

The spa will open in a vacant storefront on the west side of the shopping center that was most recently occupied by longtime Westlake Plaza business Wilmette Flowers.

Wilmette will be Skinflection’s third location. They currently also have spas in Lincolnwood and Niles.

Skinflection’s approval was originally on the meeting’s consent agenda, but had been removed by trustees for further discussion.

Shami Habib and Mona Chilmon, Skinflection’s co-owners, answered multiple questions the trustees had regarding parking availability for their clients and employees.

Habib said Wilmette would be one of the spa’s smaller locations, with them planning only four treatment rooms as opposed to seven in their Lincolnwood space.

“We were very careful with choosing this plaza because of the parking, knowing that it’s a much smaller space, and we wouldn’t need that much parking space,” she said.

Habib added that if the business is having a busy day, she would anticipate that, at most, there would be three employees and three clients in the store at a single time.

Chilmon said most of their facial treatments last an hour and 15 minutes, but that they do also offer shorter, 15-30 minute appointments as well.

She went on to say that she and Habib will encourage their employees to utilize the 18 available parking spaces located behind the spa. And according to Habib, some of their employees use ride shares to get to the spa.

Habib added that Skinflection has a retail component, saying that the spa sells “medical-grade skincare” products that she said account for between $15,000-$25,000 in sales depending on the month.

Trustee Mike Lieber told the owners that the board’s concerns were solely with parking availability, calling Westlake Plaza “parking-challenged.”

“I think that’s the only reason we’re kind of taking a further look at it,” he said. “And it’s also for your own good, because if you spend the time and money opening up this business, and then people drive up and they can’t find a spot, and they just call up and cancel, that’s not good for you.”

Habib and Chilmon both said they appreciated the board’s concerns, and added that they didn’t feel parking would be an issue.

Habib specifically said that, prior to deciding on Westlake Plaza, she and Chilmon drove past the shopping center during their peak hours, which include weekday mornings and Saturdays.

“We also wouldn’t want to put ourselves in a position where we didn’t have the amount of parking we needed there,” she said. “But we feel really confident and we feel really strongly about the location and the parking space, and I think it really is best suited for Skinflection.”

Trustees plan to study parking, zoning for Westlake Plaza

While supporting Skinflection’s bid to open in Westlake Plaza, Trustee Steve Leonard said he remains concerned about parking availability in the shopping center.

His comments echoed similar concerns he brought up back in 2024 when the Village Board approved Jersey Mike’s and Lake Pointe Urgent Care for Westlake Plaza.

Since then, he said he has noticed continued parking challenges in Westlake Plaza, calling it “a victim of its own success.”

He asked if there could be an update to the most recent parking study, which was done around 2024, and also asked for more consistent parking requirements for the center. Leonard said that Westlake Plaza currently requires three spaces per 1,000 people, regardless of what the business is, and he said that needs to be given a second look.

Village President Senta Plunkett agreed with taking another look at the permitted and special uses for Westlake Plaza. She noted that, based on the current zoning guidelines, a personal care business such as a hair salon is permitted, but Skinflection, which is classified as a medical office, needs a special use.

Plunkett also noted that another permitted use in the shopping center is for an “indoor amusement facility,” which she said should probably be another part of the code that is reexamined.

Village Manager Mike Braiman said that the next time a business that requires a special use attempts to occupy Westlake Plaza, staff will require them to conduct a parking study. Additionally, he said that a referral to the Village’s Land Use Committee, chaired by Leonard, to study the permitted uses in Westlake Plaza will be on the next Village Board agenda.

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