Differing opinions among South Barrington candidates on controversial church plan
A candidate for South Barrington’s village board has criticized how village officials handled a controversial proposal to build a church and religious school on vacant land in town.
Other candidates defended the way the village dealt with the matter, which now is in legal limbo.
Board hopeful Malik Khan questioned the village’s response to Fourth Avenue Gospel’s plans during a group interview with the Daily Herald that included candidates Kanu Panchal, Daniel Zierk and Shahzad Kazi. Candidates Joseph Abbate and Madhusree Ghosh were invited to attend but didn’t participate.
The six candidates are running for three 4-year term seats on the village board.
Schaumburg-based Fourth Avenue Gospel, which is operated by a congregation of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, owns 34 acres of undeveloped land at Bartlett Road and Route 59. It bought the site, sometimes called Area N, from the South Barrington Park District at auction last year for $2.3 million.
Nearby residents publicly complained about how the auction and an earlier sale attempt were conducted. They also raised concerns about the project and some of the church’s practices.
To build a church and school there, Fourth Avenue needed the village board to amend an existing development plan. But last October, Fourth Avenue representatives announced they were tired of bureaucratic delays and that they intended to go to court to disconnect the land from South Barrington.
The issue hasn’t been resolved.
Zierk, Panchal, Kazi and Khan weighed in on how the village has handled the proposal and the ensuing move to disconnect the property.
Khan, a Realtor and information technology program manager, blamed the controversy and the resulting legal battles on “a lack of community engagement.”
“The way it was handled definitely could have been better,” he said.
Khan also questioned the way the sale was completed.
Zierk, the village clerk since 2023, noted Fourth Avenue’s development plan never has been reviewed by the village board. The plan commission held public hearings about the proposal last year but didn’t make a recommendation to the board before Fourth Avenue announced it would seek disconnection from the village.
Zierk also acknowledged the village board doesn’t have the legal authority to control independent parties conducting a real estate deal.
As for Fourth Avenue’s complaint that the process has faced unreasonable delays at village hall, Zierk praised the plan commission for “looking out for the best interests of the residents” and not making rash decisions.
“All around, I think South Barrington … did a fantastic job,” he said.
Panchal, a surgeon appointed to the village board in 2022, said he believes resistance to the project from residents turned off Fourth Avenue and led to the push to disconnect.
Kazi, a banker who’s been on the plan commission since 2022, said village officials acted properly and followed the applicable rules and regulations. Even so, he suggested the matter “could have been handled a little bit better.”
While noting the church has First Amendment protections, Kazi also expressed concern about the proposed church and school only being open to Plymouth Brethren Christian Church members and not the general public.
Election Day is April 1. Early voting begins March 17.