By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
istudenkov@buglenewspapers.com
@BugleNewspapers
The Park Ridge City Council did not vote on a zoning application that would turn a currently vacant lot near the intersection of Devon, Talcott and Cortland into a parking lot. But, homeowners who live nearby still had plenty to say.
Earlier this year, Park Ridge Community Bank, which owns the lot, and Skyline Home Investments LLC, which owns the land directly south of it, filed a joint application to change the zoning at 1110 S. Courtland Ave. Most of the land would become a parking lot that the two applicants intend to share, and a small portion of the south side of the land would become part of the mixed-used development Skyline planned to build on its property. The Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission voted 3-4 to deny the application.
Now, the city council must either agree with the denial or override the commission’s decision.
The vote was originally supposed to take place during the Sept. 19 meeting. But due to what officials described as an accidental oversight, the necessary resolution was not included in the aldermen’s council packets and the city council could not vote.
Instead, aldermen allowed residents who attended the meeting to speak on the issue, and agreed to vote on it over the course of the next two council meetings.
The land is located directly next to the northeast side of Park Ridge Community Bank. According to the council packet materials, it has been vacant for about 31 years and owned by the bank for the last 21 years. The land that Skyline owns has an office building that has been vacant for the past few months. While the developer did not offer any specifics, it indicated that the development would be mixed use.
The application originally went before the planning and zoning commission on June 14. According to the meeting notes, Skyline and the bank originally asked the entire lot to be rezoned from residential to business. In response to concerns from residents who live nearby, the committee recommended that they amend the application so that the 15-foot section that Skyline planned to add to their property be rezoned for business use and the rest for parking. The commission considered the amended application July 26 but it was denied.
At both meetings, residents expressed concerns that the parking lot would increase traffic, affect property values and impact students at nearby Roosevelt Elementary School.
Under the rules the city council approved July 5, aldermen can either concur with application denials by the planning and zoning commission or vote to overturn that body’s decision. While the former can be done with a simple majority vote, the later requires a supermajority vote.
The Park Ridge Department of Community Preservation and Development was supposed to prepare the resolution for a city council vote Sept. 19. For reasons that were not clear at the time of the meeting, the resolution was not prepared, and city attorney Julie Tappendorf told aldermen that they could not take any action without it.
Acting Mayor Marty Maloney said he still wanted those stakeholders who came to speak about the resolution a chance to address the council. He added that everyone who also wanted to speak at the next meeting would be allowed to do so.
Jason Christopoulous, of the 1000 block of Cortland, spoke in favor of the project, saying that the opposition expressed at previous meetings did not necessarily reflect the opinion of all residents near the proposed parking lot. He argued that the parking lot would be a better use of the land then what’s currently there.
“It’s a blighted spot, and I think it’s beneficial to work with people who are willing to [redevelop] this blighted area,” he said. “To have people invested in the [Talcott, Cortland] corner is important…”
Christopoulous added that, as a community bank, the Park Ridge Community Bank deserved some help from the community. He also bristled at the notion that the proposal would lower his property values.
“It’s going to enhance my property value, and it’s going to help a blighted community,” Christopoulous said.
Mary Ronczy, who also lives in the 1000 block of South Cortland, argued that the bank has not done enough to try to redevelop the property as a residential space. She said she and her neighbors would prefer to see something residential go up on the vacant lot.
“I’d like to note that it’s important to people in this area that this lot continue as residential,” Ronczy said.
Diane Hamel, who said she lived in the area since 2009, expressed support for the proposal because it would, according to her, bring much-needed redevelopment to this part of Park Ridge.
“What I see as a big issue as a taxpayer, is that [the city] invested so much money in Uptown,” she said. “We allowed South Park to die.”
The council is currently expected to hold a first vote on the issue during the next city council meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. According to Maloney, the council will do two readings. The second and final reading is expected during the Oct. 17 meeting.