The facts on zoo parking plans
With regards to John Patterson’s response to my previous letter, I feel obliged to make a couple of corrections. As a former elected official who weighed many easy and difficult decisions throughout my years in public service, I learned there is no place in public discourse for anything other than accurate information.
First, while the park district voted in November to seek zoning relief from the city for construction of a parking lot, the plan sent to the city for approval is for a 93-space lot, much smaller than the original 250-space lot proposed by park district engineers. The anticipated cost of the smaller lot is estimated to be $2.1 million, with the entire cost of construction to be paid for by private donor money via the Cosley Foundation. Mr. Patterson is well aware that plans have been considerably downsized from the original design, as he was not only present at the March 12 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting where the plans were reviewed, but he also questioned park district expert witnesses.
Second, Mr. Patterson’s claim that no empirical data exists to support the need for additional parking at Cosley Zoo is not accurate. The FOIA request he references asked for an hourly log of zoo parking for a particular period of time. As a practical matter, the zoo keeps a daily log, which was already provided. Zoo personnel walk the parking lot each day and make an observation: full or not full. The observations are logged and date back almost eight years. Again, he knows this, as at the same March 12 meeting, the “no data” claim was clearly rebutted by a park district expert witness.
Finally, I make note of the fact that park district commissioners adjusted the original plans developed by staff and engineers multiple times after taking into account public feedback, but he seems to find fault in that. I commend them for valuing the input from zoo’s neighbors and community members. Isn’t this type of responsiveness to the public what we want and expect from elected officials?
Michael J. Gresk
Wheaton