Buffalo Grove residents object to tree removal along creek

Some Buffalo Grove residents are unhappy over the removal of numerous trees along the Buffalo Creek Nature Preserve as part of a stream bank stabilization project.

"We look out of our windows and we see a disaster zone," Casey Keller, a resident of the Lexington in the Park subdivision, told village leaders Monday. "It's basically all been leveled."

The clearing of trees in the preserve, east of Arlington Heights Road and north of Lake-Cook Road, started six months ago, but it only recently reached the area by Lexington in the Park.

Keller lamented the loss of a feature that "has provided privacy (and) beauty," adding that many of the residents have faced Buffalo Creek for more than 30 years.

"We feel this was handled in an extremely poor manner," he said. "We should have had a say in what was planned."

Village Engineer Darren Monico admits that crews have been taking down more trees than expected, but he said they are dead, diseased, dying, leaning over the stream banks or considered a safety issue.

"A lot of them are box elders and buckthorn and scrub trees, nonnative trees," Monico said.

The village received a grant from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency that pays for three-fifths of the work. The total cost of the project has not been determined.

Monico said a liaison from the village has met with homeowners twice and a public meeting about the project was held.

"We informed them there would be heavy tree clearing," he said.

Keller said he attended a presentation at the Lexington in the Park clubhouse and was told by Weiss that "we ended up taking down more (trees) than we anticipated."

Monico said because the area receives little sun, no grass or vegetation grows along the stream bank to prevent erosion.

"The important thing to remember is that this is an environmental improvement project on village-owned property to improve the stream banks," he said.

There will be some new trees planted once the project is complete, but Monico emphasized that open space will be needed for native grasses to grow an help protect the stream bank.