For Barrington Hills board: Wamberg, D’Amore, Mallen

The battle over a lighting ordinance in Barrington Hills has led to a crowded seven-person race for three four-year Barrington Hills board seats in the April 5 election.

On one side are the opponents, who rallied the community against the proposal which was eventually watered down before approval. They now call themselves the Common Sense Party. On the other side is a team of candidates supported by Village President Robert Abboud. And in the middle is the independent candidate and current plan commission Chairman David Stieper.

This is a tough call. And the race is certainly not just about exterior lighting. It’s also about what all sides agree is preserving the village’s 5-acre minimum zoning. But the Abboud side has banded together under the moniker Save 5 Acres because they believe their opponents are willing to relent to developers who want to eat away at the restriction.

The members of the Common Sense Party, meanwhile, believe that perhaps the expensive litigation route is not always the best course of action in trying to preserve that which makes Barrington Hills unique. Rather than risk losing large tracts of land on the village’s borders by potentially losing in court, there may be times a compromise could be reached that allows smaller two- or three-acre lots on the periphery while maintaining 5 acres elsewhere.

And we agree, thereby supporting Diane “Dede” Wamberg, Steve D’Amore and incumbent Beth Mallen over Stieper and the Save 5 Acres team of incumbent Joe Messer, Village Clerk Karen Selman and newcomer Patty Meroni.