Bartlett hears concerns about new police station's parking
A new Bartlett police station moved within a step of final approval Tuesday even as village board members considered neighbor concerns about its additional 29-space parking lot to be built on the residential side of Oak Avenue.
"One of the things I'm most concerned about is our neighbors," Trustee Aaron Reinke said. "Are we talking with the neighbors?"
Resident Mark Kosbab, who was among those who spoke at last month's plan commission hearing, reiterated his concerns to the village board's police & health committee.
"It seems to me putting a parking lot between residential houses is ridiculous," Kosbab said. "Has there been any research into what that would potentially do to their property values?"
Community Development Director Jim Plonczynski said such a specific study hasn't been done, but the project has been designed with sensitivity to neighbors in lighting levels, fencing and landscaping around the lot's perimeter.
The new parking area is for police department staff's personal vehicles, not squad cars.
Reinke asked whether this half-acre parking lot could be reduced in size in the future if other land for that use were acquired elsewhere.
Plonczynski said such an option was theoretically possible if village officials were willing to pay the cost of building another lot later.
The new station, and its parking lot across the street, will be before the village board for a vote on final approval at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 16.
The two-story building, to be built on the site of the current facility at 228 S. Main St., will total 48,982 square feet - more than double today's size.
The new station would be built in two phases: the first from this summer through May 2018, with the second to be completed in late 2018.
Police department staff will move into one portion of the old building during phase one, while the rest of the structure is demolished. They'll then move into the completed part of the new building while phase two is constructed.