Montessori school passes test with Glen Ellyn commission

A controversial Montessori school was given preliminary approval to move to a new site in Glen Ellyn.

The plan commission voted 8 to 1 Thursday to allow the Diamante Montessori School to relocate to a site at 625 Hillside Ave. left vacant by Christ Church.

The school currently operates out of St. Mark's Church in town. The proposal will now go to the village board some time in the next two months; that body will make a final decision.

Neighbors on Hillside Avenue have been staunchly opposed to the school because, they said, among other things, it will bring in more traffic and create safety hazards in the area.

The plan commission held several public hearings since the beginning of the year to hear testimony from hundreds both for and against the relocation. Most of those meetings went for more than three hours to allow for public comment.

On Thursday, most of the plan commission members who were present agreed that the Montessori school met the nine criteria laid down in the zoning code.

Commissioner Jay Strayer was the lone dissenting vote. Although he agreed the school met most criteria, he said he believed traffic would be affected by the school's drop-offs and pickups.

"It's a very busy street," he said. "I think we're just setting up for serious accidents down the road."

The commission did have concerns on restricting the number of students allowed at the school. Commissioners finally agreed to limit morning classes to 50 students, afternoon classes to 50 students and capping enrollment at 100 children.

However, they said the village board could change those numbers if the school requested it; the intent, according to commission members, is to control some of the traffic in the area.

Commissioner Todd Buckton said there were people opposed to the school operating out of St. Mark's two years ago. He conceded, though, that there weren't nearly as many against that use, but he said the school has shown itself to be a good neighbor.

"They have held up their end of the bargain," Buckton said.