Bartlett residents review plans for Lake Street gateway development at open house

An unexpectedly large turnout of Bartlett residents attended an open house Wednesday and told village officials they were generally on the right track with a planned 63-acre combination of businesses, housing and open space at the town’s northeast gateway on Lake Street.

Village leaders said they also heard practical considerations about traffic and parking from among the roughly 150 attendees, rather than such issues were deal-killers.

“We want you here now so you’re not here with pitchforks later,” Village Trustee Joe LaPorte joked.

Despite the development plans, the meeting room echoed with applause at the news the Tom’s Farm Market stand on Lake Street was in talks to remain.

Village President Dan Gunsteen believes even lifelong Bartlett residents like himself are eager for it to become a place where one’s money doesn’t have to go to a neighboring town’s amenities.

“This takes us from a bedroom community to one that supports businesses and entertainment,” he said. “For 50 years, Bartlett has been known as a bedroom community. We’re breaking out of that shell.”

Rich and Jan Gelzis are longtime residents who say they’ve already seen major changes to Bartlett over the decades, but this is one they appreciate for its logic and deliberateness.

“I think they’re approaching it the right way,” Rich said.

He believes the only residents who might be opposed would be those living much closer than himself, and more affected by changes to the traffic flow.

But Mark and Jacqueline Ellsworth live only blocks away and said they’d look forward to the businesses and amenities being proposed.

Jacqueline is vice president of the Bartlett Historical Society but said this change doesn’t diminish the village’s legacy.

“If they’re going to do it, I think they’re doing it in a thoughtful way,” she said.

The village created a 154-acre tax increment financing district around the site to help fund public improvements and bought the first 20 acres for $3 million.

Still critical to the plan are the acquisition of 43 acres from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the realignment of Oak Avenue’s approach from the south to create a four-way signalized intersection at Bartlett Road.

Some the land had been set aside for a potential extension of the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway, but those plans never came to fruition.

Gunsteen said it wasn’t until IDOT recently abandoned plans to extend the Elgin-O’Hare that the village’s current idea even seemed possible.