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Long Grove trustee hopefuls debate role in revitalizing downtown

The six candidates for three seats on the Long Grove village board agree the historic district is far from the popular shopping and tourist destination it used to be, before the recession and online retailers crushed Long Grove's mom and pop stores. But they disagree on how the village, with a full-time staff of four and a $3.6 million budget, can solve the problem.

The six are running in the April 7 municipal election on two slates, each with an incumbent and two newcomers.

One slate - Trustee Charlie Wachs, Steven Sintetas and Stan Razny - says a revitalized downtown isn't so far off. They see the start of a new era after the family of an auto racing mogul has bought a sizable chunk of real estate there. The village, the trio says, needs to invest in infrastructure - most notably, bringing public water to the downtown to attract new restaurants.

The other slate - Trustee Stanley Borys, Bill Jacob and Michael Sarlitto - questions whether the village should continue to sink money into the downtown without a clear payoff.

"We're putting more and more money in, and what are we getting out of it?" asked Jacob. "It doesn't seem like it's working."

Sarlitto says the downtown needs a long-term strategy and brand.

"We have not had a serious discussion, a meaningful discussion on a five- to 10-year (plan) 'Where is Long Grove going?'" Sarlitto said.

Borys floated the possibility of mixed-use developments - condos on top and retail on the bottom - during a recent endorsement interview with the Daily Herald editorial board. That could be a tough sell in a historic-minded town.

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and every time expecting a different result," Borys said. "That's where we are with the downtown today."

Borys also criticized private meetings between property owners and other board members. He said owners should be addressing the full board with "what they're willing to do."

"You need to shine a light on their involvement," Borys said. "And they need to pick up the banner and lead the development."

The incumbent on the other slate countered that the village has done a better job of cooperating with businesses and that Long Grove has started to shed its reputation of being a hard village to do business with.

"What I would suggest is the way you get developers to come in is not to criticize them in public and in the newspaper, not to question what their intentions might be," Wachs said.

He said decisions about spending shouldn't be based on whether the village gets a return on investment. The downtown has never been a big sales tax generator and never will be, he said. The village currently gets about $144,000.

"Everyone I talk to wants to see the downtown revitalized," he said. "Why? Not to fund our government but to provide a place for residents to get together."

Wachs says Long Grove's roughly 8,000 residents have become too "subdivision-centric."

"Is Long Grove just going to be a bunch of homeowners associations and no center of town?" Razny asked.

Wachs said the cost of installing a water main would be offset by connection fees. Sintetas, though, like the other slate, says building owners should share the bill of any improvements that boost their property values.

When owners could switch from aging private wells to public water would depend on the Lake County-funded redo of Old McHenry Road, Wachs said. That roadwork could start as early as 2017.

Wachs said property owners are doing their part, pointing to the Forsythes, who have bought more than a dozen downtown buildings - Mill Pond and Fountain Square shops included.

The family, whose patriarch Gerald Forsythe is the owner of a Buffalo Grove company that builds power plants, has sparked interest in the downtown from the "circle they're in," Wachs said. They also plan to bring structures that have "decayed dramatically" back up to code, he added.

"They're rebuilding those buildings," he said. "And they will become first-class places that are not torn down and built to look like Palatine or every other village. It'll look like Long Grove."

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