Mt. Prospect OKs row home development plans

After addressing residents' concerns about setbacks, Mount Prospect trustees voted Tuesday in favor of a plan to build a 12-unit, three-story row home development at 701 E. Prospect Ave.

But the board has yet to quell neighbors' complaints about overnight parking in the area.

The original plan for the site, which now contains a vacant office/warehouse building, was to build three clusters of four-unit buildings, one fronting Prospect, the second lining Edward Street and the third sitting along an interior courtyard area with access from an existing alley.

But neighbors were not pleased with the setbacks -- 12 feet, 10 feet and 9 feet, respectively -- all of which would have required variations.

The solution was to increase the setback along Edward Street to 20 feet and relocate one unit from the rear to the Prospect Avenue frontage. This was made possible by a rare compromise on lot coverage; the village will allow 51 percent in this case whereas 50 percent normally is the limit.

But though one problem appears resolved, another serious one remains: overnight parking.

Louis Street resident Mike Pretschold said area townhome owners are using their garages for storage and area streets for parking, which is prohibited overnight.

"I have lived there since '74, and I have watched year after year after year more cars parked there," Pretschold said. "When wintertime comes it's a mess. The plows come around the corners. They can't do a clean sweep. And you get to the corner and there is a big sweep of unplowed snow. And when you get cars on both sides and they plow, you end up with barely a one-way traffic situation."

Village Manager Michael Janonis acknowledged the problem.

"The police department has been working on trying to come up with a solution. Nothing presents itself readily at this point, but it is something that we have been looking at for a while now."

Janonis said it is a case of too many cars chasing too few spaces and hinted more aggressive enforcement may be part of the solution.

Trustee Paul Hoefert, however, warned against implying this development would produce similar problems.

"And it's very distinctively different. Each unit here has four parking places, two in and two out."