Hoffman Estates rejects preschool, wants more retail along Barrington Road

The Hoffman Estates village board rejected a proposed Goddard School for preschoolers Monday, with a slim majority saying they prefer to keep the planned site along Barrington Road reserved for retail businesses.

Board members voted 4-3 against waiving a retail-only restriction on the site, with Village President Bill McLeod casting the tiebreaking vote.

Barry Millman of Horizon Realty Services Inc., the real estate representative for the for-profit school, said the parcel just south of the Fountain Crossing strip mall has been marketed unsuccessfully for retail uses for a decade.

"Retail has not been the primary prospect for this property," Millman said. "In this area, there is not a lot of demand for free-standing retail."

Levi Ottwell of Goddard Schools said the Pennsylvania-based business has more than 460 schools across the country, with the nearest being in Schaumburg. The schools serve children between the ages of six weeks and 5 years old.

Trustees Gary Stanton, Karen Mills and Gary Pilafas joined McLeod in rejecting the developer's request for a waiver on the retail requirement.

"I can be the first to say I'm not thrilled (with the proposal)," Stanton said.

"And I can be the second," McLeod added.

Pilafas later explained that he accepts what Millman said about the retail market in the area, but doubts there is sufficient demand for a Goddard School there, with another nearby and several other private day cares and preschools in the area.

Nevertheless, he said he likes the Goddard School's philosophy and praised the operation to Ottwell.

"You have 460 schools, you must be doing something right," Pilafas said.

Ottwell said Goddard Schools is confident there's a market for another location in the area and would begin looking for another site.