Citizens must speak out to stop unwanted development
West-Siders in the village of Libertyville are quietly reeling from the clear-cut of 2,500 mature trees on the property of the Catholic Bishop of Chicago. The harvest of chips flew on Thanksgiving week.
Who's to blame for this tragedy?
Without our help, village leaders vote their conscience. Given a set of rules, in this case about tree removal, and absent of any public feedback, they make decisions. Only later does the citizenry wake up as the chain saws rev up.
These decisions happen every week: the first Monday, the second Tuesday, the third Thursday, all down at village Hall. While we are home watching the game, or tuning in to our favorite TV drama, stuff happens, right under our collective noses.
Most people, including 20,000 motorists who drive by the gaping wound every day, watching the car in front of them, listening to the radio, are anesthetized to the carnage that happened there two months ago.
That same developer will now go back to the village and ask for permission to implant 148 high-density houses onto 15 acres of the parcel, complete with shared driveways, 6-foot-high white vinyl fences surrounding tiny pen-like lots, within the shade of 38 mature trees that escaped the ax. As a salve they offer to plant 1,000 saplings to replace the old woods.
Despite the many Libertyville residents who oppose the development, and its un-village-like design and likely impact on traffic, schools, taxes, pollution and property values, the deal just might go through.
Why?
Because we don't pay attention to what's going on down at village Hall. It happens right under our noses, and we barely give it a sniff.
Time to wake up! The next Public Hearing is Monday, Jan. 9, at Civic Center in Libertyville, 7 p.m.
Phil Brown
Libertyville