The Milwaukee-based consultant hired to help Glenview write its comprehensive plan for future development says new buildings along Glenview Road should be three stories with retailers on the first floor and office space or apartments on the second and third floors. In unveiling a preliminary plan for downtown redevelopment, Larry Witzling said downtown’s biggest problem is the lack of continuous retail space from Waukegan Road to Washington. Stores are interrupted by OLPH, parking lots in front of the old Renneckar’s site and Bess Hardware, the fire station and professional office buildings.

To assure a thriving downtown, he said the village may need to provide some incentives for developers to replace non-retail buildings and build more stores. Witzling said the fire station could be moved, although relocating the newly-built communications center there could prove costly. He also proposed using the front of OLPH for retail and said future changes in that facility should only be approved if they enhance the prospects for a pedestrian-friendly downtown. In addition, the consultant suggested the Olympia Shopping Center across from the library, the Renneckar’s site and Colonial Court be renovated or rebuilt.

Other advice: The new neighborhood should be clean and orderly. Its buildings should have strong facades, large windows, awnings and signs. Banners, kiosks, public seating, murals and sculptures should also be part of the lively new downtown landscape, but developers should resist the temptation to add green space in front of buildings. Like Optima East on the southeast corner of Glenview and Waukegan roads, the consultant says new buildings should sit close to the sidewalk.

Witzling insists downtown Glenview can thrive even as the village develops a mixed-use retail center at The Glen. "You have to look at the market potential for the entire area," he explains. "There’s an enormous amount of purchasing power here." Citing key geographic features, he predicted Glenview’s downtown would still be here 25 years from now. "You have the train station, the river and proximity to Waukegan Road. It’s a relatively small area – just five blocks from Waukegan to Washington," he said. "It wouldn’t take that much to have a thriving downtown. A good mix of 20 successful businesses would do it."

As testament to the strength of its current location, Witzling notes that downtown Glenview has weathered a number of changes in the marketplace, including the trend toward shopping at malls. "The Glen has yet to see its first shift in retail patterns," he said.

The consultant believes Glenview’s library is an important factor in the future success of downtown and proposes that officials consider buying residential property to the west or locate at another site on Glenview Road – possibly replacing Colonial Court. If the library were to move from the corner of Glenview and Washington, he predicts the land would bring big bucks from a residential developer – money that could be used to buy out other downtown businesses.

To the surprise of some, the consultant made no mention of Glenview’s controversial D-1 policy that allows high-density development downtown to create a ready neighborhood market for shops and restaurants. Witzling said density wasn’t really the issue – that some multi-family housing was desirable downtown.

Trustee and Plan Commissioner Donna Pappo said that if D-1 continues to guide development, houses around the downtown area would all be replaced by townhomes and apartments. Witzling said he found the mix of single-family and multi-family homes exciting and suggested the village create some kind of historic district downtown to protect the houses, buy them outright or ask developers who intend to build multi-family housing to purchase and preserve some of the single-family properties.

He promised to give the density issue more thought and to suggest a suitable number at the commission’s next meeting but added that another controversial aspect of D-1, requiring retail businesses on the first floor, could be abolished except on Glenview Road. That would clear the way for developers of the Optima West property to rent empty storefronts on Dewes Street to medical professionals or companies seeking office space.

As downtown is redeveloped, the consultant said new businesses should not be allowed to build large parking lots for exclusive use by their customers. Instead, he said retailers should be made to share parking. "They won’t want to do it. It’s like asking your kids to share candy, but you’re going to have to be a little coercive or you’ll end up with a sea of asphalt," he said.

Witzling liked the idea of angled parking, despite Village President Larry Carlson’s complaint that whenever he slips into such a space, he is immediately flanked by large SUVs or vans, forcing him to "back out blind." The consultant said this was more of a "psychological hazard than a safety hazard," since the situation forces drivers passing by and those backing out to move slowly. Witzling said traffic experts continue to support the use of angled parking in busy downtown areas.

At its next meeting on June 13, the urban planner will offer suggestions for improving traffic flow on Waukegan Road. Studies actually show a slight decrease in the number of cars and trucks using key parts of that route over a 10-year period. Witzling admitted a possible error in calculations, but if the numbers are correct he wondered, "How could the traffic counts be lower and the levels of frustration higher?"

Perhaps people are just less patient than they were 10 years ago, he said, or maybe the traffic is more troublesome because there are too many roads and parking lots that allow cars to enter and leave Waukegan. All those cars making all those turns really slow things down.

Look for the consultant to suggest a median strip that would limit the number of locations at which drivers could make left turns.

When former Village President Nancy Firfer announced her appointments to the Comprehensive Plan Commission, those named were honored, but the bloom is apparently off the planning rose. The group barely achieved a quorum of 11 – the number it needed to hold a meeting – and 11 more members failed to show up. The absentees included Trustees Rachel Cook, John Crawford, Mike Guinane and Jeff Lerner, park district representatives Doug Kaiser and Judy Beck, School District 34 representative Anastasia Usher, School District 225 representative Andy Olson, former zoning board chief Ty Laurie and citizens Jeff Wolfson and Susan Isenberg.

Former commissioners Nancy Firfer and John Patton have apparently resigned, and despite past claims of deep concern for the future of Glenview, they were not in the audience. To his credit, former Trustee Kent Fuller has hung in, bringing his considerable environmental expertise to the task of planning. 

Glenview is a growing, white-collar community with increasing numbers of Asians, people under 18 and over 65. So says the census bureau, which recently released statistics from its nationwide 2000 survey. Between 1990 and 2000, Glenview grew from just over 37,000 people to nearly 42,000. Almost 11 percent of our population is Asian, while 4 percent is Hispanic and just under 2 percent is African-American.

More than 36 percent of households have kids under 18, and the senior population is also rising with 28 percent of households claiming at least one resident over 65. 

Comparisons with other North Shore suburbs are also intriguing. They suggest we have more in common with folks in Northbrook than with our neighbors to the east. For example, during the last decade, the number of working mothers with children under six declined in Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe and Kenilworth, but in Glenview and Northbrook it went up 3 percent. Overall, about half of families with pre-school children have both parents in the workforce.

Working women in Glencoe discovered a big disparity in their pay, earning $48,700 on average while their husbands brought home $100,000. Not so couples in Glenview, where the gap was much smaller. The median income for men here is $64,429 while their wives earn $40,534.

More than 82 percent of Glenview’s working residents would be described as white-collar – in professional, managerial, sales or office jobs, and nearly 24 percent of adults here have graduate or professional degrees. In Northbrook that number is 28 percent while almost half of Kenilworth residents are Masters, MBA’s, JD’s, PhD’s, DDS’s or MD’s.

People who want to hold the line on Lake Avenue with 10.5-foot lanes rather than the state standard of 12 feet were disappointed last week when the Wilmette Village Board said it was not ready to back that request. The trustees said they would consider the matter again on June 4.

Glenview’s Village Board has asked the county, which plans to rebuild Lake Avenue, to request a waiver from the 12-foot requirement. The superintendent of highways, Wally Kos, said Cook County would set up a meeting with the Illinois Department of Transportation, but the county would not support 10.5-foot lanes. "Twelve feet is standard not just in Cook County or Illinois but nationwide," Kos told the Pioneer Press. "The county’s position will be that 12-foot lanes should be required.

UNDERGROUND UTILITIES CONSIDERED

As part of Lake Avenue’s reconstruction, some Glenview trustees had expressed interest in burying electric, cable and telephone lines, so Glenview’s director of public works proposed a consultant be hired at a cost of $40,000 to figure out what the cost might be.

Trustee Mike Guinane asked for a ballpark figure for underground lines. ComEd had put its approximate charge at $2 million to bury electrical wires along Lake Avenue in Glenview. Guinane didn’t see any point in hiring a consultant if the village was not prepared to pay that much. He wondered how many streets could be paved for $40,000.

"I think that money could be better spent in the neighborhoods than on some consultant," he said.

"Would the residents along Willow Road be paying to bury cable along Lake Avenue?" asked Trustee John Crawford who lives in Princeton Village on Willow Road. "I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate that."

Trustee Donna Pappo did not agree. "I view this as a rare opportunity," she said. "This would be a major aesthetic improvement that would have a lasting effect on everyone who drives on Lake – even the people who live on Willow. It would look better. We could plant more trees. The trees wouldn’t have to be cut back continually. It’s a standard that we set for The Glen, and I think we owe it to the rest of Glenview to consider doing it elsewhere when we can afford it."

In a rare show of unity, Trustee Mary Beth Denefe said she agreed, and with a vote from Trustee Jeff Lerner they prevailed in setting aside money for a consultant to gauge the cost of buried utilities along Lake.

A ragged flag flies over the old Navy Hangar at The Glen this week, an ironic symbol of the fight to preserve that building. While coverage in the Glenview Announcements suggested preservationists were happy with plans to rehab the building, correspondence shared with Glenview Watch show otherwise.

The head of the Landmark Preservation Council of Illinois, David Bahlman, wrote that after more than four months of negotiations with developer Dene Oliver, the two sides had reached an impasse. "We insisted on [a design] that would have preserved the general appearance of the existing eastern facade. [Their] proposed modifications are now worse than they were at the beginning of the year."

The Announcements quoted an official with the state who said ghosts of old Navy pilots flying in from the lake would be able to find the hangar, but Bahlman says veteran pilots "will find it difficult to recognize the original structure."

He says legal protections were extremely weak and blames the two major retail tenants – Von Maur and Galyan’s – for demanding "their standard corporate image along the eastern facade at the expense of a good preservation project."

Current plans do not meet federal standards for rehabilitation of historic places, but an agreement between Glenview and the state would have allowed the village to demolish the hangar if it could not find a buyer willing to preserve the building. Glenview said no such buyer was found, although Dene Oliver was willing to keep about 70 percent of the historic facade including the north and south pod wings and the central tower.

Editor’s note: The public is paying more than $8 million to keep the shell of a building that might have served as a memorial to those who trained for military service here. Instead, the mixed use retail center will evolve into yet another tribute to conspicuous consumption, and we taxpayers will have gone for another ride to help a developer make big bucks at The Glen.

The long-awaited Abt superstore opened its doors at 1200 N. Milwaukee Sunday with double the space of its original store in Morton Grove. In addition to an atrium with fountains, gardens and eight trees, the new store boasts a fish tank that rivals many at the Shedd Aquarium. It will provide prospective buyers of video cameras with a colorful focal point, and "the fish will be able to grow much bigger – especially the sharks," says store president Michael Abt.

Friday’s Tribune hailed Abt as a model for successful retailing in America, citing its reputation for knowledgeable sales people and excellent service along with its ability to anticipate consumer trends. Sunday’s crowds were so large, however, that visitors to the new store were hard pressed to find a salesman, and two traffic cops were needed to keep cars moving in and out of the 1,000-car lot.

While much has been made of the tax windfall Abt is expected to produce for Glenview, there’s been little talk of what the store and its giant fleet of trucks will cost the community in road repairs and other public services. The police department got a dramatic example last week when an alarm went off at the new facility. It took two officers a full hour to walk through the building in search of possible intruders. None were found. Abt is expected to have its own security force, but our cops will be called whenever possible crimes are committed.

Editor’s note: On its last day of business in the old Waukegan Road store, a surprising customer was seen at Abt. Glenview Village President Larry Carlson appeared to be making a purchase, paying a part of his sales tax to Morton Grove.

Former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon gets a new title this week – restaurateur. His Northbrook eatery, located just north of the Prime Minister on Milwaukee Avenue, opens Tuesday with a tentative name. McMahon and his partners had hoped to call the place Chicago Stadium, but Bill Wirtz, who owned the old Chicago Stadium, threatened a lawsuit. Instead, the new place will be called McMahon’s Overtime Steakhouse until a contest planned by the owners produces something more exciting. The large brick building, reminiscent of the original stadium, will feature a family restaurant, sports bar, game room and wide-screen TVs on the first floor and an upscale eatery on the second floor.

SOCIAL SERVICES TO BE CUT

Local programs for single parents and children could be cut if Gov. George Ryan’s proposed budget reductions go through Monday. Youth Services of Glenview-Northbrook, Wesley Child Care and other social service agencies in Northfield and New Trier Townships thought they’d be out nearly $70,000. State Representative Beth Coulson was fighting to preserve the programs, saying it would be better to cut the jobs of some mid-level bureaucrats.

Rob Talhami was remembered last week as friends and relatives dedicated a bench in Northbrook’s Village Green Park to him. Talhami, 40, was a bond trader with Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104^th floor of the World Trade Center. The Northbrook native was the father of two young children.

BOARD OKAYS NEW FIRE STATIONS AND TRAINING CENTER

Glenview’s trustees gave the go ahead for two new fire stations Tuesday. One will be located on the southeast corner of Lake Avenue and Wagner Road, the other at The Glen. The board also approved plans for the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy – a regional center for training police, firemen and paramedics.

The facility, to be built on 20 acres at The Glen, will include a simulated store, home and apartment building, warehouse, hotel and gas station along with a METRA railroad engine and passenger car, a firing range and driving pad where public safety personnel can learn to maneuver squad cars, fire trucks and ambulances more effectively at high speed.

The assistant village manager of Arlington Heights, Greg Ford, spoke for a coalition of 17 communities that will operate NIPSTA. He thanked Glenview profusely for leasing the land on which the facility will be built. To his credit, Glenview’s manager admitted the village had some selfish motives for making the land available. He told Ford that plans for the training academy helped us get the Navy land at no cost, and the village will get $2.5 million in free and convenient training for our personnel.

Glenview’s village board has often shown itself to be a friend to developers and to the business community. It approved some pretty dense housing at The Glen, provided variances that allow massive town homes around the mixed use retail center, assured that the Chamber of Commerce would not pay a penny for public works, police or fire services during its annual street sale and can’t seem to pass a sign ordinance that might improve the local street scape, but there’s one issue on which Board President Carlson and the trustees are hanging tough. The village permits businesses to hang banners for no more than 10 days. At Tuesday night’s meeting, Devon Bank on Milwaukee Avenue announced plans for a banner to proclaim its three-week, back-to-school promotion.

The board wouldn’t budge, voting to allow the banner for just 10 days. Next came the new World Savings on Patriot Boulevard. "We typically run a 30-day grand opening," said a spokesman for the bank. "With the 10-day ordinance, we were hoping that 20 days would be an acceptable compromise."

"Actually, I think ten days would be the acceptable compromise," said Carlson.

Editor’s note: A banner proclaiming "God Bless America" has now been hanging from a sign post on the west side of Waukegan Road just north of Chestnut for months. We don’t recall a permit being issued. Will the tough trustees dare to enforce Glenview’s banner ordinance against that one? Stay tuned.

The elaborate Glen playground known as Little Bear Garden will open at noon Saturday, June 8 with a treasure hunt, story telling and jugglers on hand. Organizers of the day suggest families bring a picnic lunch to the southeast corner of Patriot Boulevard and Chestnut Ave.

EBM read our story about the finances of State Senator Kathy Parker and Judicial candidate Sandra Tristano, then wrote: "I note your criticism of two Republicans, and NO criticism of any Democrats. Hmmmmm."

The Watch replies: We are an equal opportunity newsletter, so we’re happy to expose questionable behavior by politicians of any party. Last week, the Sun-Times broke two substantial stories that happened to be about Parker and Tristano. This week, the Sun-Times reported on Cook County Board President John Stroger’s angry response to critics of his director of prostate cancer awareness. Stroger, a Democrat, gave the $81,000 a year job to Frank Barnes who says his main responsibility is to arrange prostate cancer screenings at south suburban black churches. When another paper, the Chicago Reporter, asked leaders of 50 such congregations about Barnes, only two had heard of him, and when a member of the Cook County Board began asking questions about Barnes, Stroger replied, "It’s very bad for you to talk about things that you don’t know anything about." While Glenview’s County Commissioner Gregg Goslin, a Republican, may not want the job, the editors of this newsletter would like to be the first to endorse him to replace Stroger.

DM is concerned about downtown plans and projects already underway: "We continue to wonder about our downtown area. There has been no new developments or information given regarding this issue. In addition, do you happen to know what is being constructed on the property next to Gabriel's Trumpet? The excavation continues with no signs for the future."

The Watch replies: We believe the developer is putting in a parking lot.  As for other downtown construction, it may be held up by the comprehensive planning process -- developers waiting to see what incentives may be available and what rules will apply.

AI wonders what has happened to plans for new construction in the vicinity of Monroe and Rogers behind the Glenview Car Wash: "After watching the Plan Commission grind on the developer of the lots on Monroe and Rogers to reduce the density, I am curious as to why we now see a "For Sale" sign on the property. I live across the street in the townhouse development and would much rather have new homes than the unsightly, boarded up mess we now have to contend with."

The Watch replies: The developer, represented by former zoning board chief Ty Laurie’s law firm Schiff, Hardin and Waite, has apparently scrapped the idea of building townhomes, citing the plan commission’s limit of 14 units and claiming he could not make enough money on the project.

Nan writes about Bart: "Such a big deal about Bart being so aggressive and dangerous! Sounds to me like he's a big teddie bear. Glad to hear his transport went without a hitch and the stupid board gets away with not having to worry about paying for it!"

BS has an idea for the PD: "I've read that the Glenview Park District has acquired land south of the AON building on Milwaukee Ave. but doesn't have the funds to develop it. I’ve also read that the Women's Professional Softball League is looking for about 20 acres on which to build a stadium. Wouldn't it be a boon to the village to have such a facility in our backyard? The park district could receive monies from its development, and local girls could receive fast-pitch training through camps. Maybe the high schools would also benefit by having the IHSA championships in this area , and that event would certainly help area hotels and restaurants. The park district’s property is large enough to provide parking, and the western portion is not near any homes. Where’s the downside? What an opportunity for so many to benefit!"

And in response to our story about exclusive pouring rights at Niles’ high schools bringing nearly $2 million from Coke while GBS refuses such deals, JA sent an editorial from the New York Times: "Obesity was back in the spotlight this month as a major public health problem. A Senate committee held hearings this week on a bill designed to combat the obesity epidemic in this country, where some 60 percent of all American adults are either overweight or obese. And the annual meeting of the World Health Organization heard reports of an alarming increase in overweight children in developing countries. A favorite villain in most analyses of the global girth problem is the so-called junk foods - the sodas, chips and candy bars that tend to be high in calories and low in nutritional value. That is why efforts are under way in several states to restrict the availability of junk food in the public schools. But it is an uphill battle given the lobbying might of the food industry and the financial interests of school districts that profit from vending machine sales on the premises.

"West Virginia has taken the toughest stance. It bans the sale or serving of all sorts of junk foods in its schools. But a drive to ban soft drinks and snack foods from California schools stumbled this week when a key bill failed to get enough votes to make it out of a State Senate committee. The bill had been opposed not only by the soft drink and food industries but by the California Teachers Association, which feared the loss in educational funding."

YOUR TURN: Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. If you haven’t already done so, please consider making a contribution to support The Watch. Non-deductible checks should be payable to Glenview Watch. Thanks for your support and for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors.

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