Mayor was silent until it was too late

I am further appalled with Mayor Kovarik's recent stunt pretending to oppose the junkyard.

While the matter was under consideration during my term, one of my objections to the first junkyard proposal was that it involved an unwarranted zoning change to Gurnee's most intense zone, (I-3 Industrial). This would have allowed the most intrusive activities to be conducted on the site by right without any consideration to the residents located immediately adjacent to the property.

I argued during the March 19 village board meeting that we should not place Gurnee's most intense industrial zone next to Park City residents. Mayor Kovarik's response was that Gurnee currently has I-3 Industrial next to Gurnee residents. Apparently, Mayor Kovarik believes that past land planning mistakes set a precedent that we should continue to follow in the future, even if we have learned that it is a bad practice.

When the final vote came up on the first junkyard proposal, Mayor Kovarik refused to break a tie vote. She went to great lengths to conceal her position from everyone. If the mayor was against the junkyard, her vote would have avoided a lawsuit filed by JLB LLC against the village of Gurnee. Now that the debate is over and millions of dollars of profit will be realized by the principals, Ms. Kovarik has decided to take a courageous stand against the junkyard.

She claims that the protest filed against the junkyard did not allow her to state her opinion on the issue any earlier in time.

This is a complete fabrication. The law on protests filed by neighboring property owners is found in 65 ILCS 5/11-13-14 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

The state statute states that, upon a filing of a protest by 20 percent of the landowners bordering the property seeking a zoning change, the zoning change "shall not be passed except by a favorable vote of two-thirds of the aldermen or trustees then holding office."

There is nothing in the statute denying the mayor's right to speak on a zoning issue after a protest is filed. A true leader like Dick Welton or Don Rudny, who preceded her in the office of mayor, would have used their powers of persuasion to have a dialogue with the trustees and citizens and inform everyone of their position and how the upcoming decision would effect the plans for Gurnee's future. Mayor Kovarik appears to use her powers of persuasion only to promote herself.

Ray Damijonaitis

Gurnee