By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
nweditor@buglenewspapers.com
@NilesILNews
The Park Ridge City Council will soon decide whether to annex a lot on Higgins Road and Canfield Avenue that is currently home to the Park Ridge VFW post.
The property, located at 10 Higgins Road, has remained unincorporated, even as nearby municipalities have annexed surrounding lots. Today, it is surrounded by Park Ridge to the north and west, and Chicago on the south and east.
The current owners, Canfield Higgins LLC, are looking to rezone the property from R-5 single family residential to I-1 restricted industrial. According to Park Ridge officials, the owners have been tight-lipped about what they want to use the lot for, leading to concerns that they might use it for something that would hurt the quality of life in the surrounding area.
Because the lot is unincorporated, Cook County – not Park Ridge – would decide whether to grant the request.
On March 21, however, the Park Ridge City Council voted unanimously to file an objection that triggered a legal requirement that the zoning change must be approved by a super-majority of county commissioners, rather than a simple majority.
Aldermen also instructed city attorney Julie Tappendorf to begin the process of annexing the land. If everything goes as planned, the city council will vote on whether to annex the lot during a special meeting scheduled for April 11.
Over the past few decades, 10 Higgins Road was home to Park Ridge VFW Post 3579. In recent years, the post’s membership declined and the building deteriorated. In April 2015, the post announced that it was looking to sell the property. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the sale was completed on Jan. 21, 2016, with Canfield Higgins LLC buying the properly for $1.2 million.
According to the March-April 2016 issue of the “Sentry” – Post 3579’s bi-monthly newsletter – it is planning to move to Niles’ White Eagle Banquet Hall. While the timeline is uncertain, the newsletter said the post hopes to move by May 1.
The new owner has been talking about rezoning the property for the past few months.
Resident Jeana Chammas, who lives near the lot, said she and her neighbors started receiving notices as early as November 2015, as well as another notice March 1.
However, city officials said they didn’t receive a notice until March 9.
Jim Testin, the Park Ridge community preservation and development director, said staff tried to find out what the new owner planned to use the lot for but were unsuccessful.
“When [staff] contacted them, they just kept it general,” he said.
This ambiguity concerns Park Ridge, since I-1 zoning designation allows a wide range of uses, many of which aren’t industrial.
Some of the potentially controversial uses include bars, clubs, chemical processing and production facilities, and hotels and motels.
During the March 21 meeting, Chammas said she and her neighbors weren’t happy with the lack of specifics, either.
“We are just quite concerned about what’s going on,” she said.
Tappendorf explained that, because the lot is in an unincorporated lot, the application for a zoning change has to go through Cook County government. The Cook County Zoning Board of Appeals will consider the application during its meeting, and the Cook County Board of Commissioners will have the final say on whether the application gets approved.
Under state law, any municipality located within 1.5 miles of the application site has a right to object. An objection automatically triggers a super-majority requirement, so at least three-fourths of all Cook County commissioners must vote to approve it.
Tappendorf recommended that the Park Ridge City Council vote to file an objection. She added that aldermen could also annex the property, which would be fairly easy to do.
“It is surrounded on all sides by the city of Park Ridge and the city of Chicago, so its subject to involuntary annexation,” she said. “The actual act of annexation is an adoption of the ordinance.”
But before the city council votes on annexation, the property owners, nearby residents and Cook County government must be notified. Additionally, a public notice must be published in the local newspaper at least 10-15 days before the meeting.
If the resolution is passed, the owners could sue to block annexation, but Tappendorf said she wasn’t too concerned about that. The owners would have to prove that the notices weren’t filed properly or the vote wasn’t done properly, which, she said shouldn’t be a problem so long as the procedure is followed.
However, Tappendorf added that, if aldermen wanted to annex the property, they shouldn’t take too long to make their decision. If the rezoning passes before the lot is annexed, the city council may not be able to rezone the property as R-5 after it has been granted an established use. Establishing a use would require the owners to obtain a building permit, or any other permit.
Sixth Ward Ald. Marc Mazzuca said he’s not against annexation but added that he wanted to see exactly what the process would entail for the city before casting his vote.
“I’d like to make sure we understand the pros and cons,” he said.
After a brief discussion, aldermen directed Tappendorf to begin sending out notices. They also instructed staff to research the costs related to annexation and have the report ready by the March 28 committee of the whole meeting.
The city council currently plans to vote on the annexation during a special meeting, which has been scheduled for April 11.