THE NEXT WATCH -- WEDNESDAY, JULY 24

It's been a wild week in Glenview with four major boards tackling controversy, and a member of the library board calling it quits.

-- The park district staff wants to sell off part of Wagner Farm for Lake Avenue widening, even though it has no obligation to do so. The offer is so generous that Cook County would need no land from the south side of the road.

-- The village wants to start work on Lake Avenue early, assuring traffic troubles this fall and next spring. Staffers say they can't trust the county to finish all the work in 2003.

-- Park commissioners discuss moving fireworks and weekly Bearfoot concerts to The Glen.

-- A new Chinese restaurant opens at Heatherfield.

-- The village board hires an expert to analyze prospects for downtown Glenview.

-- And Home Depot says its new store at The Glen will be unlike any other in the area. Commissioner Mary Novotny demands to know if it will have cement floors below and birds flying around above, and Chairman Howard Silver can't figure out why the place will rent tools when everyone on the North Shore hires somebody to make home improvements for them. 

Owing to the press of news and of summer events, we ask your patience. Details will appear in this week's Watch on Wednesday.

JENNINGS FIGHTS VILLAGE HALL

Jennings Volkswagen wants a new building at its current location north of Waukegan and Golf roads – a facility four times bigger than the one it now has. The plan commission might okay that idea, but several members want Jennings to comply with village requirements for landscaping and storm water detention as part of the project. Right now, about one percent of the site is landscaped. It’s not clear how much storm water is detained.

In response to a call for more greenery, Jennings offered to landscape a publicly-owned parkway along the southern boundary of its property on Overlook Road. Architect Larry Basil argued Jennings' lot was too small to add many plants at the dealership itself, and putting trees near new cars was unwise since birds would leave damaging droppings on the merchandise.

Chairman Howard Silver said other dealers in town had complied with village requirements on landscaping, but Basil said they were not happy with the outcome. "Should we continue to inflict this on every dealer just because the ones that are suffering with it now already have it? I don’t think so."

Since Jennings only plans to build on the southern part of the property, making no changes to its Chevrolet dealership next door, Basil thought the amount of detention needed should be based on part of the lot, but the commission wasn’t buying.

Silver said the VW site had never been legally subdivided from the Chevy site, and Commissioner Gary Wendt said separate consideration of the VW lot would require Jennings to meet other standards, including a 20-foot landscaped buffer between the business and Waukegan Road.

Noting that Jennings had expanded the Chevrolet dealership during the past decade without increased landscape and flood control, Silver said the business had gotten a pass once. "Now you want a pass when you’re completely redoing the VW building. At what point can we have Jennings come into the fold and bring the property up to a standard that we’re holding everyone else to?" he asked.

Jennings executive Jim Walsh said the site was small and the possibilities limited. "We have just over four acres at the two dealerships. We sell a lot of vehicles – 3,500 vehicles last year – a lot of vehicles, a real lot of vehicles."

If the village puts too great a burden on Jennings, Walsh warned, "We will have to leave and go to another town, and that’s the last thing we want to do. I think you need to be flexible."

At that point, Chairman Silver warned Walsh to back off. "If you went to Morton Grove, they would not let you put 99 percent impervious surface on your site. They’d make you look like Lincoln Park, because they’ve tonied-up Waukegan Road. As plan commissioners, we have to do what’s right for the village – what’s required by ordinance," he said.

Walsh said McGrath Acura, which recently moved from Glenview to Morton Grove, had not faced unreasonable landscaping demands.

"Morton Grove is selling their soul to get retail in there since they lost Abt," said Silver.

"We’ve been here for 44 years," said Walsh. "We’ve been really good neighbors to the community. I’m not asking for anybody to do anything that’s wrong. I’m saying this is a win/win for everybody. We stay here. We screen off our property. We have a facility that can bring more revenue in."

Silver thanked Walsh and directed one more question to architect Basil. Noting that a train station sits just south and east of Jennings, he wondered if a sidewalk might someday be built along the dealership’s southern boundary, forcing removal of trees to be planted on the narrow parkway. Silver thought Jennings should plant on its own property.

"On the remote chance that a sidewalk might be put there?" said Larry Basil testily. "I mean what is the rationale behind it?"

Silver then raised the question of who would maintain Jennings’ landscaping on the public parkway. "There’s some landscaping on Overlook now that is maintained by Jennings to our satisfaction," said Village Development Director Mary Bak, rising to the dealer’s defense. "We have no plans for a sidewalk. We’re very comfortable with putting the landscaping on the public right of way."

Commissioner Jim Patterson, active in the election of Village President Larry Carlson, then stepped forward to argue for leniency on behalf of Jennings – a generous contributor to the Carlson campaign.

"We truly need to be sensitive to the nature of this business," he said. "That is what this commission is about – saying: ‘What’s the nature of this enterprise, and what are we trying to accomplish that’s in the best interest of the entire village?’"

Patterson proposed that Jennings be allowed to improve storm water detention at its convenience – when the dealer plans other parking lot improvements.

Silver said he would be satisfied if Jennings met close to half of the village requirement for storm water control. "If it’s 43 percent versus 50, it’s not going to matter, but until we find that out, we’re not able to go any further."

He asked Jennings to come back on July 23 with information on its current detention capacity and revised plans, "so you can start building your building."

Editor’s note: While Silver likes to rattle developers, he often backs off – perhaps because the likes of Walsh and Patterson remind him of political and economic realities. This matter will ultimately go to the village board where a majority of trustees owe their political success in part toJennings. 

The company contributed $2,000 to the Unite Glenview party and Jim Jennings personally endorsed Carlson and his running mates Mike Guinane, Mary Beth Denefe and Jeff Lerner. Those trustees are not going to stop Jennings from doing as he pleases, and neither is Silver.

After months of discussion and a unanimous vote by the plan commission, it appeared that a developer – Active Living of Illinois – was about to get the green light for condos, single-family houses and town homes near the corner of Willow and Waukegan roads on land once occupied by the Missionary Sisters. Then residents of neighboring Heatherfield notified the village board of a new design – a "compromise" they had reached with Active Living. It entailed removing one floor from each of two four-story buildings and adding two single-family homes for a total of 110 units on just under 20 acres.

The trustees sent the matter back to the plan commission for one more round of discussion, but first, President Carlson and three trustees expressed doubts about the density of Active Living’s proposal. Encouraged by evidence that the village board might give them an even better deal, the Heatherfield residents returned to the plan commission with far less enthusiasm for the compromise.

Bob McKenna of the Heatherfield Master Association had signed a letter in support of the plan, but he now complained to the commission about various aspects of the proposed development and suggested the developer could make a 10 percent profit by building and selling just 94 units.

The apparent change of heart frustrated Commissioner Joseph DiMattina. "In Sicily they have this Dance of the Tarantulas where two tarantulas go around and sting each other until they both fall down dead, and I’m getting the sense of something like that happening here. Do you still stand by the letter that you signed agreeing to 110 units?"

"Well, first is, the – " McKenna stammered.

"Do you still stand by that? Yes or no?" said DiMattina.

"I’m not sure I can answer yes or no," said McKenna. "Yes, we stand by the 110. Is that my preference? No. It is a serious compromise on our part."

Chairman Silver read from the agreement, attempting to understand McKenna’s objections, but McKenna seemed reluctant to discuss the matter further. "I’m not a lawyer," he said.

The president-elect of the Master Association was also questioned after criticizing the plan. Commissioner DiMattina asked Connie Conway why she had approved the compromise. She said she had not read the letter and had not seen certain changes that Active Living proposed including the location of the single-family homes and movement of some town houses closer to Willow Road.

"You know what? I really see this as a bunch of bad faith," said DiMattina. "You got a compromise. You saw an opportunity to maybe squeeze a little bit more. Personally, I don’t appreciate that."

Another Heatherfield resident, James Kubik, complained that minutes from the last village board meeting were not available to the plan commission. He thought its members needed to know that many trustees were uneasy with the density of Active Living’s design.

"Commissioner DiMattina referred to the Dance of the Tarantulas. I would liken it more to musical chairs. We’re playing a game of musical chairs here between the plan commission and the village board, but I think we all know that when the music stops, it’s going to be the board of trustees that is sitting down."

Kubik said most of the trustees had supported a density of four units per acre – substantially lower than what Active Living now proposed. "I know that the Heatherfield Master Association signed this letter of understanding regarding the 110 units. That was signed before we had the benefit of the comments of the village board," he explained. "If 110 goes back to the board of trustees, they’re not going to approve it."

Agreeing that the village board was unlikely to approve Active Living’s plan with 110 units, Plan Commissioner Jim Patterson proposed that a plan with 103 units be approved. Chairman Silver refused, saying 103 was an arbitrary number and compromise was not necessary.

"You guys are still too hung-up on the numbers," Silver told the Heatherfield residents. "It’s more than a number. It’s the concept of what a community is. I don’t think this commission, as professional planners, should approve something just to appease the board of trustees. If the board of trustees wants to vote it at 103, then let them do it, but if this commission feels that 110 works, then we should send it back at 110. We’re playing planning versus politics. We’re planners, and we’ve got to move this thing forward."

Silver and several commissioners expressed enthusiastic support for Active Living’s design and warned that if the developer walks away, the property might be left as is. "You’ve got a five-story hulk looming there now," said Silver, referring to the old convent building at Waukegan and Willow. "Do you think that’s beautiful to look at?" he asked the Heatherfield residents.

Silver also assailed McKenna’s claim that Active Living could build 93 units and still make a 10 percent profit. "Half of my professional life I was the CFO of professional development companies. Never has there been a 10 percent bottom line. I want to see something good there. I don’t want to see this guy walk away and leave the building that’s there now. If that’s what you want, then you tell the board to turn it down."

DiMattina then moved to approve Active Living’s plan for 110 residential units. All but Patterson voted in favor – sending it back to the village board.

Editor’s note: Knowing there is an election next spring and that there are hundreds of voters at Heatherfield who prefer a lower density development, it should not surprise anyone if the trustees reject Active Living’s latest plan. The new president of Heatherfield’s Master Association – Connie Conway – was seen working at the street sale for Larry Carlson’s political party, Unite Glenview.

Construction crews broke ground Friday for another senior community at The Glen – a 174-unit complex known as Chestnut Square. The facility, owned and operated by Bethany Methodist Corporation, is going up at the corner of Patriot and Chestnut – a location described in glowing terms by Glenview’s Redevelopment Director Don Owen.

Speaking to more than 100 guests who had gathered under a white tent to enjoy punch and hors d’oeuvres, Owen said Chestnut Square residents will be able to stroll through a shopping mall and Gallery Park, to fish in Lake Glenview, play tennis or golf next door. They can take their grandchildren to Little Bear Garden, the new Kohl Museum or Splash Landings at Park Center. "You can even fly a kite," Owen quipped as one of his color maps blew off its stand.

Village President Larry Carlson also did his part to assist with sales. In a Bethany press release, he described Chestnut Square as "one of the finest residential communities in the entire metro region."

Chestnut Square is expected to open in autumn 2003. Bethany executives say more than 60 percent of the one and two-bedroom units have been sold. Among the first to sign was former Village President and newspaper columnist Jack Mabley. "If anyone would like to buy a used lawn mower, see me afterward," Mabley joked in remarks to the group.

Mabley recalled buying his first home in Glenview – a four-room house on one-third acre – for just $6,500. His monthly payment was $39. Today, four homes later, he noted, "we have enough equity for an apartment at Chestnut Square."

Units at the senior residence range in size from 540 to 1,035 square feet. Depending on which unit they purchase, buyers pay an initiation fee of $115,000 - $395,000 – money that’s refunded to them or their estate when they leave. They will also pay $1,655 - $3,000 a month for dinners at the restaurant, housekeeping and other services. Parking is extra.

Mabley concluded with a surprising detail. The original home he described was located at 3413 Henley. His new residence at Chestnut Square – apartment 3413.

When the Glenview Village Board meets at 7:30 p.m. July 16, sparks could fly over several subjects on the agenda:

– A consultant may be hired to assess the feasibility of tearing down the 1800-block of Glenview Road to jump start downtown redevelopment. The village could then provide incentives or use tax increment financing to help build something new at that site.

– Another consultant could be paid to study the market for new businesses in the area.

– Taco Bell at 1757 Waukegan Road wants to add a Pizza Hut Express at its current site.

– The Glen’s architectural consultant wants $9,600 for advice on mounting two large Navy guns and bronze plaques in front of the new shopping center.

– Another firm wants more than $27,000 to prepare the guns and do concrete foundation work.

The public is invited to attend and speak at Tuesday’s meeting held in the board room of Village Hall, 1225 Waukegan Road. That meeting will also be cablecast on channel 17.

– Another Carlson Heating and Cooling truck has been sighted parking illegally in Glenview. Last week, a reader complained about a flagrant violation in front of medical offices on West Lake Avenue. This week, a truck was seen in the lot next to Ari’s Café in a space clearly marked for library employees.

– Former Village President Nancy Firfer has a job with the regional planning group Metropolis 2020. The group was founded by Chicago business leaders concerned about traffic troubles, problems with public education and other civic matters that could effect profits and quality of life in the years to come. Among other things, the group has complained that communities are building too few homes for moderate and low-income families – a problem developer Firfer clearly ignored at The Glen.

– The Plan Commission has approved changes to St. Peter and Paul Church on Lake Avenue, allowing the congregation to add a covered drop-off area, an elevator and bell tower.

– Dominican University is installing a 300-space permeable parking lot like the one rejected by Glenview’s park district for Wagner Farm. The Unilock paving blocks allow rainwater to soak back into the ground. Planners in River Forest say this approach will reduce flooding problems and pollution of the Des Plaines River while saving 30 trees that could not survive the installation of asphalt.

– Several new restaurants have opened in this area, including Tasty Burrito at the location once occupied by Famo’s on Milwaukee Avenue, the Corner Bakery near Dominick’s at The Glen and The Blue Cactus, a Mexican restaurant serving dinner and cocktails next to Little Louie’s on Shermer in Northbrook.

Participation in Glenview’s Fourth of July parade was down slightly with 77 groups taking part. Last year, there were 83. Park District officials had no explanation for the decline but said they will start earlier to attract bands for next year’s event. Absent from the procession were several traditional participants – Hangar One, Grandpa’s and the Jesse White tumblers who arrived too late to take part.

An award went to the Henley Street Association for its float – Where’s Bart? It featured cartoon drawings of Glenview’s best-known bovine at various sites around town and blared a recording of Wooly Bully. Other winners included the new Belmont Village bus and floats created by the park district, Good Times Day Camp, Cub Scout Pack 10 and the Glenview United Methodist Church.

The reviewing stand near John’s Park also prompted some public buzz. Three of the front seats were logically occupied by parade judges, but the other three were taken by the wives of Village President Larry Carlson and Trustee Jeff Lerner and by former Village President Nancy Firfer. A crowd of kids occupied the remaining seats, forcing the Grand Marshals and honorary Grand Marshals to stand at the back of the platform.

RG wonders which buildings downtown would be demolished "for the Deerfield Bakery and if people who signed the Unite Glenview petition knew there were plans to wipe out part of downtown to make Village President Carlson’s dream come true. There must be another bakery out there that would be happy with the amount of parking available in front of the old Renneckar’s Pharmacy. That lot was never full, but the drug store did a good business."

On July 5, Mark Lexus wrote: "Last week the American Flag was removed and brass water parts were also taken from the demolition site of Hangar One. Today, I drove by and saw a weird white flag tied to the antenna area. Who placed that strange new flag on historic Hangar One?" One day later he noted: "Demo crews have totally removed all military hardware from the hangar roof, including the antenna tower. This morning I noticed crews beginning to remove the metal railing and other stuff from the control tower. By the time they are done, we’ll wonder why we fought to keep the skeleton tower standing."

The Watch replies: Village officials couldn’t say what the white flag was. One thought it might be an indicator for crane operators at the site who like to know how hard the wind is blowing and from what direction. We can say with some certainty that the white flag was not a sign of surrender by Oliver/McMillan.

SC takes plan commission members DiMattina and Silver to task: "I wasn't surprised to read about Joe DiMattina's most recent antics involving Steak ‘N Shake. He and his sidekick Howard Silver have got to be two of the rudest, most arrogant people to sit on a commission in this town. DiMattina is nothing more than a food vendor himself, yet to listen to him and Silver with their rude, degrading remarks to just about everyone who appears in front of that commission, they seem to hold themselves in much higher esteem than anyone else in this community does. They apparently fancy themselves experts on everything from building design, landscaping, traffic engineering and the best way to run any kind of business, from multi-million dollar corporations to a day care center. Perhaps both of them need to be reminded that they represent the residents of this community, and the residents of this community expect them to act in a professional, courteous manner to the petitioners who appear before them. But then again, maybe we just need to find two people that can act like that without having to be told."

Nancy Chadwick was also upset by Steak ‘N Shake’s fate: "Has either Commissioner DiMattina or Commissioner Wendt ever eaten at a Steak 'N Shake? I have and the food is great, especially the shakes, but then maybe DiMattina wouldn't be caught dead having a shake. It's not upscale enough. I was struck by DiMattina's apparent superior attitude regarding this casual dining restaurant. No wonder this town is having a hard time attracting new business. With the snooty attitudes of DiMattina and Wendt, this town is going nowhere fast.

"So if the Kohl's/Target site was supposed to be upscale, what happened? Whose fault is it that it did not turn out that way? I wouldn’t call Kohl's, Target, Michaels and Famous Footware ‘upscale’ but rather ‘user friendly,’ with a wide appeal to suburban families. It's that quality that will bring customers from Glenview and surrounding suburbs to these locations.

"Perhaps Commissioners DiMattina and Wendt should think of what's best for Glenview and their residents instead of blue roofs and circus stripes. Corporate identity means everything to an IHOP and Steak 'N Shake. It is critical to their business. Let the buildings alone and let desperately needed business into Glenview."

Commissioner DiMattina says his concerns "are not about the quality of the food or a casual dining experience but about the way the building looks surrounded by the other out lot buildings that have substantially complied with the annexation agreement. Our desire is to get an upscale building design. I think we achieved that in the bank building, with IHOP and with Bennigan's. I love the food at Steak 'N Shake. In fact a week ago Saturday I was at the Steak 'N Shake in Mount Prospect after a movie at Randhurst. I hope in the next couple of years to be doing the same except viewing the movie at The Glen and then Steak 'N Shake in an architecturally-pleasing building at the North Shore Corporate Park."

HLH says a new library at The Glen will be a tough sell: "The boundaries of the area under consideration for a new library still include the possibility of a site in The Glen despite the wishes of a majority of Glenview's residents. The library’s new executive director is going to have to surpass all of her past money raising skills if she hopes to get a bond issue or increased tax levy passed for a library out there."

Dick Feit takes exception to our claim that a majority of Glenview residents surveyed in 2000 preferred a downtown location for the new library: "This reference misleads readers into believing any downtown site -- i.e. the Patio Shops, Dominicks, etc. were preferred over The Glen by survey respondents. In fact, a majority of survey respondents clearly responded to a preference for keeping our library right where it is -- expanding or rebuilding there. Survey question 12 asked: "Assuming costs of the current library location or The Glen are the same, do you prefer the current library location on Glenview Road or the new Glen or do you have no preference? Sixty percent of residents and 66 percent of library users preferred the current location.

"By the way, Wilmette, Niles and Mount Prospect have expanded their libraries at their long-time locations in keeping with the wishes of taxpaying residents, fulfilling real time space needs versus foolhardy 20-year projections."

The Watch replies: At the time of the survey – December 2000, Glenview’s library board still thought the downtown post office would be moving and expansion at its current site possible.

We think another survey is in order – not only because that situation has changed but because Glenview has hundreds of new residents at The Glen who did not take part in the first poll and because people making use of Park Center, Gallery Park and shopping in Glenview’s newest neighborhood may feel differently now about locating the library there.

In the end, however, the driving force behind a downtown location may no longer be public opinion but pressure from Village Hall. A consultant has told Glenview officials that a new library downtown could serve as a powerful engine for redevelopment there.

JAS applauds Mike Klemke’s letter in last week’s Watch: "Mike Klemke has put into words what I (and I am sure a multitude) have been thinking for a long time. Development is being done by developer wannabes. Where is this town going to be 10 years from now? Oops, probably still

stuck in traffic on Waukegan Road. I like the remark Commissioner Gary Wendt made: "I'm really offended by circus stripes." Mr. Wendt, most circus stripes are red and white, kinda’ like the red and white stripes on the awnings on Oberweis in downtown Glenview. Who does Mr. Oberweis know? Why didn't he have to conform?"

The Watch replies: There is no ordinance prohibiting circus stripes in Glenview, and Wendt was actually referring to another set at Bennigan’s on Willow Road. Advice about awnings would officially come from the Appearance Commission, which may like stripes.

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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