Glenview Downtown Development interview, Part 3

Redeveloping downtown Glenview has weighed heavily on the minds of the village board and residents for the past several years.

Following is the third and final section of a remote interview between the Herald and Glenview Village President Mike Jenny and Director of Planning Services Jeff Brady. It has been edited for clarity.

Herald: Can the village sustain both The Glen and a booming downtown?

Jenny: If we do it right it can. Part of the downtown code revisions were intended to spur the kind of responsible and resident-focused development that could create a unique commercial center, unique in its standing from and apart from The Glen Town Center. I think that's why we're trying to be so thoughtful about this, is to make it possible for us to have, in effect, two commercial areas in town.

I think The Glen Town Center is anchored by different things, the (upcoming Landmark) movie theater being one. We're excited about that coming in the summer. It's close to Willow (Road), a major cut-through, and it's a pretty sizable residential community as well. But we have to be thoughtful about the differences there so they don't directly compete with one another. That's a good question.

Brady: I would echo all those things. To a certain extent, The Glen Town Center, as President Jenny was mentioning, has some of the big box users, some of the national tenants, things of that nature - and there may be some overlap with some of the localized, more neighborhood things. You see some of the smaller-format, smaller-scale, a little bit more neighborhood-focused retailers and restaurants and things of that nature in the downtown.

Downtown has kind of that civic focus with the parades and gatherings, the park district and administration building, the library and along those lines. While there may be some overlapping in some of the things that are happening, they are two distinctive areas that are drawing differently throughout Glenview and the surrounding communities.

Jenny: I think it's more opportunity than challenge, but we do have to be cognizant of the challenges. Glen Town Center has the movie theater, downtown has the river. I think we can develop those as distinct from one another if we do it right.

Herald: This is more a matter for The Glen than it is the downtown area, but was there sufficient public input to the planned roundabout at the Costco access road and Patriot Boulevard?

Community Engagement Manager David Just: There were two budget workshops, a CIP (Capital Improvement Project) workshop, the roundabout was part of the State of the Village address that President Jenny gave in November before the board meeting that approved it. There were questions there from the public as well.

Brady: You mentioned the CIP open house. It was presented at a budget workshop, the State of the Village. The right of way land dedication that was required to kind of accommodate some of these improvements, that was on a commission meeting and a village board meeting. The board reviewed the contract for the award of the project, there was some board discussion related to that. It was in our newsletter; there was an open house about it. There was a lot of opportunity for feedback.

I think, from the instance that you're talking about, the discussion, that happened a long time ago about the intention for a roundabout at The Glen Town Center, compared to this scenario. We have fairly different circumstances related to the review and the reasons behind incorporating a different way of moving traffic, and the environmental benefits and the specific benefits that are occurring as far as the reduction in delays in traffic, and what have you, where the proposed roundabout is located.

Jenny: We're not done talking about it, either. There's some upcoming public meeting and workshop opportunities around many of the CIP projects, not just the roundabout ... But I think it's important to note that there were a lot of opportunities to ring in and provide feedback before the board voted.

Herald: What is the penalty for doing no new development downtown?

Jenny: From my perspective, doing nothing is not an option. It's been status quo for a number of years.

I know that we've got some good success stories through the library, Midtown Square, the Heinen's (grocery store) and the moving of Fire Station 6 (1215 Waukegan Road), the moving of the Village Hall from Waukegan Road over to Lake (2500 E. Lake Ave.).

But in terms of the remaining properties and areas that are suitable for development, and taking into consideration all the resident feedback and the new code that we've put in place, doing nothing is not an option.

Brady: I'd agree.