Like old times, Glenview neighbors resume arguments against new Willows Crossing plan

The old gang was back together.

Reprising the actors, subject and setting that in 2021 forced five Glenview Plan Commission meetings and ultimately resulted in Village Board denial of a zoning change and site plan at Willow and Pfingsten roads, on Sept. 14 Chair Steve Bucklin and the New Development Commission held a second public hearing concerning a new GW Properties proposal for a Willows Crossing business development.

A team headed by Carol Sullivan, a resident near the now-barren 8.6-acre former Hart Estate at the intersection's southwest corner, resumed its opposition to the applicant's request to rezone the parcel to B1 limited business from R1 residential to create a development featuring five buildings totaling 59,500 square feet of space.

Joining her were fellow opposition veterans Brett Hanley, Terri Stengle, and Debbie and Daniel Liner, all living within two streets south of the contested property; and Skip Newman, a certified public accountant located southeast of the site.

In October 2021, with the initial proposal quashed, Sullivan withdrew a lawsuit over potential rezoning against the Village of Glenview. Meanwhile, GW Properties sued the village, litigation that is ongoing, though Sullivan said the company stayed the suit while the current proposal is being considered.

On Aug. 24, GW Properties Principal Mitch Goltz and his team had presented their material to the New Development Commission. The Sept. 14 meeting was devoted to the opposition group's presentation.

A third commission meeting will be required. After Sullivan's team said their piece, GW Properties counsel Hal Franke briefly cross-examined Hanley and Debbie Liner, and 19 public speakers followed, all opposing the plan.

Concluding the three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Bucklin continued the case to Sept. 28, when the applicant will respond to opposition comments, with possible board action to follow.

Though Debbie Liner said nothing had changed since the prior development had been denied - "it's like 20 pounds of potatoes in a 10-pound sack," she said - the opposition group again attempted to establish that the rezoning and site plan did not meet the LaSalle Factors used to assess whether a development is appropriate.

The LaSalle Factors include existing uses and zoning of nearby property, effect on property values, suitability for the zoning, and community need. Not surprisingly, the neighbors said the plan didn't pass muster on any of them.

Referring often to the village's 2017 Comprehensive Plan, which Newman said "preferred" the site to remain residential, the site plan itself drew complaints regarding lack of trees, sight lines into the development, the buffer zone between buildings and streets, and, chiefly, traffic and circulation.

Traffic that young Miller Drive mother Christine McDermott called "heinous" even at this point, though recent Illinois Department of Transportation work at the intersection of Willow and Pfingsten roads alleviated some pressure.

The opposition group rekindled their arguments against the entrance/exit onto Pfingsten Road directly across the street from the entrance/exit of the Plaza Del Prado shopping center.

They restated prior comments that to avoid the Willow-Pfingsten intersection traffic would wind its way through neighborhood streets, and that delays and vehicle "stacking" at an already taxed intersection would be significant.

Also, the building on the southeast side of the Willows Crossing plan is to be a 10,000-square-foot Montessori day care center wrapped on two sides by a 6,000-square-foot outdoor playground. The neighbors feared one wayward vehicle off Pfingsten could mean disaster.

Summarizing, Hanley said: "This proposal isn't less bad, it's just as bad."

Unlike their 2021 arguments against a proposal that included a 35,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh store, here the Glenview neighbors included site plan improvements, 11 of them. They suggested moving the day care center to the center of the development, preserving all existing trees, reducing the Pfingsten Road access to a right-in and right-out configuration, and lessening the density by removing one of the five buildings.

Most speakers in public comment were less generous. Jean Simons of Porter Court ended five scathing minutes by urging the New Development Commission to "stop this B1 juggernaut before more damage is unleashed."

Coming next to the podium, her husband, Howard, said, "Now you know why I never win an argument."