A developer is pressing ahead with plans for a lifestyle shopping center on the northwest corner of Willow and Waukegan roads – a retail operation more like a traditional Main Street than a suburban mall, with no large department stores and no big parking garages. Instead, customers can drive up to small, upscale specialty stores and walk inside.

One such center opens in Geneva on Thursday with 61 shops, including The Gap, Williams-Sonoma, Ann Taylor and Victoria’s Secret. Crain’s Chicago Business says the Geneva retail center has leased an impressive 94 percent of its space. The prototype for lifestyle shopping, Deer Park Town Center near Palatine, is also said to be doing well – pulling-in $500 a square foot after two years in business. Geneva Commons could generate $600 per square foot.

At Techny, a two-story brick center is planned with offices on the second floor. No town homes or movie theaters are included. Planner Zalman Alper says more theaters have already been built in this region, and banks aren’t financing new ones. Alper also noted that the Society of the Divine Word wanted nothing to do with big box stores. "Big boxes eventually go dark," he said. "Village-style development is better for the community."

After a disappointing night before the Glenview Village Board, officials from Steak ‘N Shake say they will change their proposal for a restaurant on Willow Road. Trustee Mary Beth Denefe had moved to approve their plans, but other members of the board objected to the chain’s desire for a drive thru at the shopping center that now has Target and Kohl’s. Steak ‘N Shake has 379 locations in 19 states, and a handful have no drive thru windows.

Lincolnshire is preparing to sell 16 acres at the corner of Milwaukee Avenue and Half Day Road for 35,000 square feet of retail space, two restaurants and a 51-unit condo tower. The site once had a dozen owners and several old buildings, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. The village acquired the land and tore down the buildings after putting up a new Village Hall and public library nearby. The latest phase of development in Lincolnshire could break ground this spring and open in 2004.

Mayor Barbara La Piana said her goal is to give Lincolnshire a downtown – something the community never had. The developers of the parcel are Chicago’s Teng & Associates and a local company, Forrest Properties, which is also at work on a small retail strip at The Glen, across from the new Metra station.

Trustees in Northbrook are preparing to decide the fate of a 20-acre site on Shermer Road where Red Seal Development wants to construct 198 condos and a space for Glenview State Bank. Several members of the Northbrook Village Board want more commercial development, but Red Seal says it doesn’t have space for the water detention that would be required by law. The trustees may also debate density – whether Red Seal is planning too many units. Trustee James Karagianis told the Northbrook Star he supports building more condos. "We need some places to live here that don’t cost an arm and a leg – maybe just an arm," he said.

Glenview’s neighbor to the north spends half a million dollars a year on flood prevention, but that may not be enough. After heavy rains in August, one resident reported $200,000 in damage to his home, and many more complained of flooding. Northbrook’s village engineer is not surprised. In the past three years, that community has covered 24 acres of land with pavement and buildings – land that used to absorb storm water. As a result, Northbrook is looking at a utility fee that could raise $2 million a year for improved stormwater management. The charge to homeowners would range from $81 to $429 per year, depending on lot size.

Glenview’s Village Board is poised to approve a flood control fee for anyone who builds a new home or makes substantial home improvements without adding an on-site detention pond or storage unit.

– Plans to build high density-housing on the Missionary Sisters’ property at the corner of Willow and Waukegan roads

– A proposal to fine trustees $500 if they publicly discuss matters explored in a private executive session

– New athletic fields and a lake maintenance contract at The Glen’s Gallery Park

– The Canaan Presbyterian Church parking lot on Greenwood Road.

Glenview may finally have resolved its swing set dilemma. The plan commission ditched rules requiring families to put sets at least 10 feet from the side and rear lot lines with more space required if the play set were more than eight feet in height. Village staff checked seven other communities and found their rules far more lenient or non-existent.

Several members of the public spoke, including a woman from Glen Lake Estates who felt the convenience of neighborhood living carried certain obligations. "We have to hear and see each other’s dogs, teenagers’ music and extra cars parked during parties or family gatherings." She argued neighbors should also tolerate swing sets, basketball hoops and trampolines.

A man from The Glen urged the commission not to back away from a limit of 12 feet in height and 10 feet from a property line, noting that "it may not be possible to have it all – a bigger house on a smaller lot with a good view and a swing set." He said the large sets are often visible from the street and can impact the look of the neighborhood, and he urged the village not to follow trends in swing set construction. "I guess if they build 20-foot swing sets 10 years from now we’ll be talking about this again," he warned.

Echoing a resident who said garages can be built five feet from the rear lot line and three feet from a neighbor’s yard, Commissioner Steve Bucklin said the same limit should apply to swings, but he was reluctant to endorse sets taller than12 feet. "Residents have a responsibility to their neighbors not to put these huge, almost two-story swing sets up in the backyards," he said.

Chairman Silver agreed, suggesting the higher units might also be dangerous – rising as high as his roof. "Five years ago I fell off my roof and spent eight days in intensive care," he recalled.

Just before voting to impose the 12-foot limit, the commissioners got a warning from village planner Dave Slitkas. "Apparently many units being sold in the village are twelve and a half feet," he said.

"Maybe you could bury them six inches into the ground," joked Commissioner Peter Brinckerhoff.

The commission voted unanimously to keep play sets three feet from the side and five feet from the rear lot line. The matter must now be considered by Glenview’s Village Board.

The owner of a daycare center hoping to set up shop on Waukegan Road will take her case to the village board Tuesday after winning approval for a playground behind her building next to Burger King. She had initially been turned down for lack of professional drawings for the site but returned with plans produced by a prominent Chicago architect and won speedy approval.

Only Commissioner Peter Brinckerhoff voiced reservations, noting that the play area was next to a fast-food drive through and the Glenview Car Wash where cars frequently line up and wait. In addition to the possible health risk posed by car fumes, Brinckerhoff thought a playground 13 feet from the nearest dumpster was a terrible idea. "If we were to hold this meeting 13 feet from a trash enclosure, we wouldn’t stand for it. I guess I’m speaking for the non-represented children [who deserve] light and fresh air," he said.

Chairman Silver said such matters were a problem for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, but Brinckerhoff thought location was a legitimate issue for the plan commission.

The commission also approved a new office building for the Palliative and Hospice Care Center of the North Shore – a company that provides for the medical and spiritual needs of people with terminal illness. Nurses, social workers and clergymen will have their offices at the North Shore Corporate Park site, and the public will be able to use the firm’s library of publications about death and dying.

The panel approved architectural plans and landscaping but urged the center to do away with its loading dock and relocate its trash containers so garbage trucks could use the same road they now drive to reach the neighboring auto supply company’s trash. Chairman Silver said sharing would mean keeping more green space at the site, and since Leader Automotive was selling the land to the center, it ought to be amenable.

Glenview’s planning director, Mary Bak, thought Silver’s idea was "unwise," since Leader was not present to discuss the easement it would have to grant and since future occupants of the site might have different needs.

Silver interrupted to challenge Bak’s view and the two quibbled for more than a minute before Silver insisted on a vote. All of the commissioners but Jim Patterson agreed to require the shared roadway.

Glenview’s high school board of education learned an unhappy lesson last month. A projected surplus of $2.2 million has become a deficit of $426,000 for 2002-2003. The shortfall is blamed in large part on higher medical benefits for employees – up 25 percent or about $1 million from last year. Revenues have also fallen short with interest rates down and challenges to property tax assessments rising. Finally, School District 225 says revenue from The Glen is lower than anticipated. The system is being compensated on a per student basis under a tax increment financing plan, and there are fewer high school kids in the new development than planners expected.

After a successful test program at Pleasant Ridge School, District 34 hopes to buy 32 laptop computers to replace or supplement older desk-top models. The Glenview Education Foundation will try to raise $100,000 from corporations and individuals to pay for the new, wireless computers.

Several Watch readers have complained about a prominent ad for Cars.com on the Metra overpass just north of Golf Road on Waukegan. Now comes word that a similar sign may be removed in Hanover Park. Town officials say the sign violates their ordinance, and while federal law may give Metra the right to ignore local requirements, the transit authority is negotiating with Hanover Park – hoping to find another, less offensive location. Metra says it wants to be a good neighbor but also needs to make money, especially since ridership is falling.

Editor's note:  Have Metra's customers stopped riding trains after buying from cars.com?

Hard hit by state budget cuts, Glenview Youth Services wants you. The local agency is asking for volunteers to help young children with school work from 6:30-8 p.m. Thursdays until mid-December. Training will take place the second week in September. For more information, call Leah at 847_724_2620.

We have a substantial e-mailing list, and hear from many of our readers each week – some of them warning of threats to public health, catastrophic legislative proposals in Congress or viruses that could wreak havoc on computers. We routinely advise folks to check these things out before sending them along. This week a reader sent the following website addresses – places you can go to verify e-mail claims. We have added them to our list of favorite places on the web: http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp and http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html .

JL responds to our coverage of flooding in Glenview: "Well, the trustees got what they designed – water up to flood level all over The Glen. The morning of the big rain there was only one way cars could get in, and it was a good thing there wasn't a big crime spree. All the police were busy keeping traffic from doing the ever-popular splash and stall. The folks in The Glen are complaining about their homes being flooded, but the merry band of powers-that-be are busy planning more pavement in the downtown area and the impervious parking lot at Wagner Farm. They probably want to share the basement bailing fun with the rest of us. What will it take to get this village to understand the ramifications of their actions? I think maybe ark-building might be a fine hobby for the citizens of old Glenview. Can't wait to see what happens next time.  Argghhh! I could just spit, but we don't need any more water on the ground just now."

And Robert Anderson says there was a Tsewer-nami in his basement on that fateful Thursday: "My basement was hit by 5,200 gallons of storm water and sewer residue delivered by Glenview’s sanitary sewer. When the last of the crud went down the floor drain six hours later, we were left with thousands of dollars in sewage-soaked furniture, appliances, computers, rugs and – worst of all – irreplaceable personal things. After four exhausting days hauling our former treasures up for the trash man and decontaminating what was left with bleach, I’ve collapsed at the keyboard to ask Village Hall:

1) Why did this happen? We have lived here for 35 years, paid for storm sewers and have never before experienced this sort of devastation.

2) How is all this storm water getting into and overwhelming the sanitary sewer system?

3) Why is it not going into the storm sewer system we paid for?

4) Are we not inspecting anymore to assure downspouts are not again being improperly routed into the sanitary sewer system or have we gotten a bit ahead of ourselves with development mania – victimizing the old, original Glenview?

DL is ready to call a lawyer over Glenview’s failure to provide storm water control: "I live in the Circles, where we submitted a petition for storm sewers last November and still have had no results. I recall Glen Oak Acres getting some results after they hired attorneys to represent them in their dealings with the village. Is there a name of a resident there that you can provide for me to contact to look into this further, or better yet, the attorney or law firm they hired? Do the village trustees have a clue how bad of a job they are doing to run this village? Finally, have there been any new political parties emerging or anyone from the Pappo, Cook, Crawford Party who may be running in the next election? If so I would be happy to help with their campaign!"

The Watch replies: While legal action may have been critical to Glen Oak Acres’ success, we think the real key was election of neighbor Mike Guinane to the Glenview Village Board. Guinane is on a mission, and as the only trustee with a clue about politics, he seems to have made progress. The moral to the story, I’m afraid, is that you cannot wait for a candidate to come forward. You may have to do it yourself, and you can be sure that lots of people will be happy to help with your campaign.

Glenview’s Park District told the Watch that people who parked at Wagner Farm during the Greek Festival were working booths there and got that privilege thanks to an on-going cooperative agreement between the church and the parks. CH writes: "As I walked by the farm during the Greek Festival with two small kids in tow, I did notice one conspicuous parker at Wagner Farm. It was village president Larry Carlson and his wife. Easy to spot since Larry was wearing a shirt identifying him as Glenview Village President. Were they working that night? Probably not, since they paid to get into the festival. At least they paid. ‘How far away is Glenview from Cicero,’ I ask with a smile.

The Watch replies: This business of parking at Wagner Farm is yet another example of Glenview’s old boy network in action. The parking agreement seems, at first, a fine example of neighborly cooperation – something we certainly want to encourage. The question is whether the cooperative arrangement might ultimately be more advantageous to a politically-connected church than to the taxpayers. If you calculate the cost of having the farm’s director and its caretaker opening the gate all weekend long and the cost of the parking lot the park district is building for the church, you probably would not equal the value of a 25_year lease on the church's land for that lot, but we’d like to be sure. As a matter of good government, a park district accountant should cost it out and assure us that this cooperative agreement really is to our advantage. We’re also concerned about liability. If Larry Carlson had slipped on a cow pie and broken his leg, we doubt if he’d be entitled to sue the Greek church, and given his ties to church elder Jim Smirles, he probably wouldn’t want to. The park district, on the other hand, could be the target of a lawsuit.

CH then adds a postscript: "Let Steak ‘N Shake in, and all is forgiven. Why should we have to drive to Golf Road for the good stuff? Let them disguise the architecture as a prairie-style library drop-off, and we'll keep it our own little secret. Shhh! It’s a drive-thru window for the good people of Glenview who never rent tools for home repairs and wouldn’t stand for an IHOP with a blue roof."

TR writes with a disturbing observation: "There is a large excavation project going on at Depot Square Townhouses on Depot Street just before it turns in to Tinker Way. It is surrounded by yellow caution tape, not fenced as it should be. This is at the exact spot where young Evan Rohrer was killed two years ago. I called the village and they said they would look into it. That was a week ago. You would think that of all places that one would be fenced."

The Watch replies: We contacted the village manager’s office which declined to comment on the grounds that Glenview is involved in litigation over the death of Evan Rohrer.

JH asks about alleged trash recycling: "Has anyone reported fake recycling by Groot? Two weeks ago, I saw them dumping the recycling bin into a regular truck. When I questioned the guy, he claimed that it didn’t matter. What’s the scoop?"

The Watch replies: Groot tells us they are still recycling but that materials are now being collected in bulk at the curb, then taken to a central location for sorting. Assistant Village Manager Joe Wade says the process is monitored by the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County. He adds that companies like Groot can make money from recyclable materials, so it would not make sense for them to collect and then dump paper, plastic, glass and metal cans into the waste stream.

Fritz is back with a beef about the new hire at District 34: "The District 34 school board should have their collective head examined after hiring a new administrator for public relations and grants. Brett Clark will be paid $71,000. Don’t ‘public relations’ and ‘grants’ come under the job description of several of our already well-compensated district administrators? Maybe Clark’s real title should be ‘Spinmeister’ or "Referendum Director.’ He comes to us from a St. Louis district that used Unicom Arc to pass their district referendum. Unicom Arc is now serving as a consultant to District 34. Wait and see how fast Mr. Clark falls into lock step with whatever Unicom Arc recommends – the same old specious platitudes about what is best for our community."

Biff Thiele comments on the trustees’ debate over penalties for leaking information from meetings held behind closed doors: "The public never gets to see what’s discussed at executive sessions. Judging by the village board meeting on August 19, it sounds as if many of the issues discussed in executive session may be in violation of the open meetings act. Trustees Lerner and Denefe seem to think it is their own private chat room, but the rules very much limit what can be discussed in executive session. If such discussions are not related to real estate deals, personnel matters, labor negotiations or litigation, perhaps that would explain Village Manager Paul McCarthy’s continued reluctance to produce these documents.

"We have been promised many times over the years by Village President Larry Carlson, former President Nancy Firfer and Mr. McCarthy that executive session minutes would be made available to the public. Yet, every time the issue comes up, Mr. McCarthy has provided yet another set of excuses to justify further delay. In the 16 years I have lived in Glenview, I am aware of no such minutes ever being provided. If that is the case, perhaps a FOIA or class action suit on behalf of the residents is warranted to force the manager’s office into compliance. Otherwise, when can the public ever expect this policy to be implemented?"

Commuting isn’t so easy for RGN who wonders: "How long will the Lehigh project take? The village does not seem to have an answer, or I was not connected to the right person. We live in west Glenview, and it is adding many minutes to my train station drive. Will Metra ever add more spaces to the Glen North station for yearly parkers? Every time I pass the station there are more parking spaces empty than used."

The Watch replies: The work on Lehigh is being done in three parts. The northern most section from the Metra station to Willow and the southern leg from Chestnut to Lake will be done by the end of this year. The central section from the Metra station to Chestnut will be complete in June, 2003. As for parking at the station, Assistant Village Manager Joe Wade says Metra has been approached but refuses to surrender those extra spaces at The Glen of North Glenview stop.

PM corrects our editing of his last letter about Waukegan Road traffic. He was proposing one long turn lane from Lake to Willow, not turn lanes at those intersections, something that already exists: "I suggest there should be a center lane from Lake to Willow on Waukegan, and that lane should be restricted to left turns. Watch out for head on collisions!

"With regard to the debate by the village trustees about who can say what to whom and when, I’d say that’s the perfect illustration of why sensible people don't get involved in government. When there are significant issues to be resolved, what are these people doing?"

And Tony Mariella, a downtown resident for 10 years, urges the village to play a strong role in redevelopment of that area: "Long before The Glen was a property to be had by the village for the price of one dollar; the trustees rezoned downtown for high density, rebuilt the train station, approved Optima East, Optima West, rebuilt some of the streetscape along Glenview Road and generally intended to stay involved with the rebirth of this area. Other towns have done it: Deerfield, Highland Park, Arlington Heights come to mind. We would have been much closer to that goal except that The Glen stopped the downtown redevelopment. People, including me, purchased into the Optima projects in 1999 with the understanding that the village was going to bring the downtown back to life. Instead some village officials turned their back. They consider the Optima projects as mistakes and want to stop active redevelopment along Glenview Road altogether. They cannot stop active redevelopment of the downtown. They made a commitment to some 100 families who have moved to downtown Glenview. We deserve a neighborhood as much as any other owner in Glenview; but we do expect our neighborhood to have a more urban character than some other Glenview neighborhoods would want.

"Traffic on Glenview Road and on Dewes needs special attention just east of the tracks around Pine Street. The current parking pattern scatters cars and pedestrians between Bess Hardware, the old Renneckar’s lot, Glenview House, the Old Glenview Bank and East Railroad Avenue down to Waukegan Road via Linneman. All these corridors are unregulated for left and right turns and generate more stress, especially at rush hour. I know. I live in the middle of it at the Optima West Building on Dewes.

"As for a new library, Glenview’s planning consultant, Larry Witzling, recommends that the village be proactive in its search for a suitable location, and I agree. The village should make the determination and go out and make the new library happen. I would like to see it between Optima West and the River; between Glenview Road and Dewes Court. A small plaza in this stretch also appeals to me."

Terry Wodder, who used to live in Glenview, would like to correspond with current residents concerned about plans for a new library. His address: terrywodder@citynet.net. In the mean time, Wodder addresses library board president Gail Anderson – responding to her recent letter in The Watch with a quote from the patriot John Adams: "'Facts are 'stubborn things.’ For the past two years, I have focused on the facts and have made every effort to debate this issue in a constructive and respectful manner. Despite repeated written requests to your predecessor, Donna Berndt, and former Executive Director John Blegen, I have never received a reply to my questions about the need for a new 110,000- square-foot library at a cost of $35 million or more. Perhaps you don’t have the facts. To argue that you and the board have ‘never lost sight of our responsibility to the taxpayers’ when you have never even bothered to count the number of occupied seats is nothing more than empty rhetoric. Without knowing current occupancy levels, how do you know you need an additional 190 patron seats on top of the 270 you already have?"

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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