Glenview resident's stance against water pollution targets Hart Estate development
This retired Navy man is not a big fan of water.
Not when it potentially comes in the form of stormwater runoff.
Glenview resident Mike Korman, former commissioner of the Glenview Plan Commission who, in 2012, retired as a decorated Master Chief after 25 years in the Navy, has filed a complaint with the Illinois Pollution Control Board against GW Glenview LLC, the Chicago company that owns the shopping development under construction at the corner of Willow and Pfingsten roads on the border with Northbrook.
The formal complaint, initially filed July 24, argues that despite permit approval by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, the site plan for the former 8.55-acre Hart Estate is "materially deficient" in addressing stormwater runoff. That, he said, could cause local flooding with downstream impacts to the Chicago River and Des Plaines River Watershed.
Work on the development has been halted since the Illinois Appellate Court on July 30 followed a residential group's lawsuit - based on a zoning change made in 1988, according to court documents - with a temporary restraining order suspending permits for tree removal, demolition and construction, explained on the Village of Glenview's "Ongoing Projects" Web page.
A subcontractor had removed about three dozen trees in two protected buffer areas of the site and three others not included in the removal permit.
A construction professional and consultant who in November 2019 resigned his appointed position with the Glenview Plan Commission to focus on serving the Glenview School District 34 board, Korman said after he and his neighbors experienced flooding due to stormwater issues, he educated himself on the topic. Namely, stormwater compliance and the construction permit process.
"It caused me to ask some deeper questions," he said.
He was a dissenting voice in a 3-2 Plan Commission vote to approve the development at the southwest corner of Willow and Pfingsten, citing safety, traffic and, yes, stormwater runoff issues.
Stating that 90 to 95 percent of Illinois construction projects cause pollution to waterways and watershed, Korman said he has filed nine different informal complaints against Glenview projects.
"My service on the Plan Commission really lit a fire under me in terms of public service," he said.
On Aug. 11, attorney Jay Berlin of Jaffe & Berlin LLC, representing GW Glenview LLC, filed a motion to the Illinois Pollution Control Board seeking to dismiss Korman's complaint as frivolous.
"The Complaint itself acknowledges that there is absolutely no pollution present currently at the Project," the motion offered as its key argument.
GW Properties' Mitch Goltz could not be reached for comment.
Korman on Aug. 17 countered the motion to dismiss with a response urging the Pollution Control Board to hear his complaint. Korman listed a number of mistakes in the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency permit approval and suggested "the IEPA is ill-equipped and/or understaffed to properly review" or enforce pertinent notices and permit programs.
"I know paper work. You spend 25 years in the Navy, and you're going to get real, real good at paperwork," said Korman, whose four overseas tours included stops in Bahrain, Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and Iraq.
He said GW Glenview representation had 10 days to respond to Monday's filing. He obviously hopes the Pollution Control Board will hear his case. Possible outcomes could be a settlement by phone or a hearing before the board.
Once a construction manager for Target and a self-described "Teddy Roosevelt Republican," Korman noted he is not against development.
"My desire to file these complaints is an effort to shine a spotlight on the seemingly incomplete effort by all parties to protect our village, our watersheds, our rivers, lakes, properties (public and private) and citizens," he wrote in his filing on Monday.
"I am not seeking to block this project but rather am asking for the proper stormwater pollution mitigation efforts under the law."