Buffalo Grove downtown study reignites debate

The public discussion of whether to build a “downtown Buffalo Grove” on the existing village campus and golf course — largely dormant since the initial proposal in 2012 — promises to receive a jolt on Monday, when the village discusses an engineering report on the feasibility of developing the site.

The report stresses “the positive side of the picture,” said Leon Gopon, president of Save Buffalo Grove and chairman of the Save Buffalo Grove Political Action Committee. “We would like to … pretty much talk about some of the issues that we feel are the other side of the coin.”

The report, released this week, of the hydraulic study and permitting analysis by Rosemont-based Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd., says that the approximately 120-acre site can be developed under an alternative that involves relocating an existing stream — Farrington Ditch — without relocating Buffalo Creek.

The study is also available online through the village's website.

Two main alternatives for relocating the ditch were offered. Both alternatives would cost approximately $20 million for earthwork and stormwater storage and require permitting from such regulatory agencies as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Lake County Stormwater Management Agency, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, the North Cook Soil and Water Conservation District and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

In August 2012, local developer Chuck Malk's CRM Properties Group Ltd. proposed developing a central business district on the village's government campus at Lake-Cook Road and Raupp Boulevard.

The developer proposed acquiring parts of the Buffalo Grove Golf Club and village campus properties with an eye to creating an approximately 65-acre, mixed-use development containing a new municipal campus, retail stores, upper-story residences, condominium towers, high-quality public gathering places, cultural amenities and other site improvements.

With the release of the Burke study, which the village board approved in February at a cost not to exceed $79,000, it appears that there is enough buildable land to accommodate the proposal, as well as room for open space and some benefit from reduced flooding for residents on the Cook County side of Buffalo Grove.

Alternative 1, relocating the ditch along the east side of the development, would yield 58.5 acres of buildable area (minus area set aside for stormwater detention), while Alternative 2, relocating along the western portion of the development, would provide 53 acres of buildable area, minus the set aside.

The eastern alignment, according to the report, will provide a buffer for the homes in the development located in the subdivision to the east, while relocating the confluence with Buffalo Creek to downstream of Raupp Boulevard, thus causing a lower flow rate through Buffalo Creek adjacent to the homes between Lake-Cook Road and Raupp Boulevard, thus reducing the risk of flooding in that area.

Village President Jeffrey Braiman said Friday that the study shows that there are alternatives that allow construction to take place on the property.

“This is the first step of many,” he said. “The next step is to determine whether or not anyone wants to develop it, how they want to develop it and whether or not it is something that the village board wants to accept and move on with. The study is not the ultimate resolution of the issue. It just puts us in a position to move forward.”

He said the village needs a destination that will accommodate the kind of bigger retail and restaurant uses that aren't found in strip centers if it wants to capture more money in sales taxes.

“Most of the development we have — most of the commercial we have — is in strip centers,” he said. While the centers are an important convenience for residents, they're “not the type of stores or retail that generate a significant amount of sales tax.”

Monday's meeting at 7:30 p.m. at 50 Raupp Blvd. is likely to draw a large crowd of residents, particularly those who are involved in the Save Buffalo Grove group.

Gopon said he has questions, including about traffic and crime. He is also concerned about the possibility of the project falling through.

“You can say there are safeguards, but what if you get down the path and the developer decides that you are putting too many restrictions on his development and it's either not feasible or he doesn't want to do it anymore? And here you are, sitting there possibly with a torn up golf course and no downtown, because he pulled out.” Gopon said, however, “It was a good thing to hear that they can save eight of the holes on the golf course and possibly we're looking to maybe making a nine-hole course on the remaining property that's not being developed.”