This past Monday (April 28) night the City of Park Ridge Planning & Zoning Commission overcame its confusion and indecision long enough to approve – by a 6-2 vote – an expansion of R-5 Multi-Family Residential zoning from the “core” of Uptown to the entire “Central Business District”[pdf]. The Commission did thrown a bone to the many residents who showed up to object to the expansion of R-5 zoning: It voted to eliminate the “adjacent to” language, which could have expanded R-5 zoning even further.
For a City that seems to be trying to generate a “growth spurt” under Mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark, expansion of R-5 is the tool of choice for developers looking to pick the low-hanging development fruit that is multi-family residential. That’s because despite the hot air billowing out of the likes of the City’s Economic Development Director Kim Uhlig, the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce and other “retail” cheerleaders, Park Ridge is a retail backwater for a variety of reasons, making retail space a tough sell.
So multi-family residential is the developer’s dream, and P&Z made sure that dream stayed alive Monday night. By expanding R-5 to the entire “Central Business District,” the P&Z Commission – whose members are all Frimark appointees or re-appointees – kept that dream alive for Napleton/PRC (including not only the former Napleton Cadillac site but also the current Napleton Lincoln-Mercury site), the owner of the site of the former D Bob’s, the owner of the former Hill’s Hobby, and whoever else had the good fortune to speculate on the redevelopment possibilities of the now R-5 suitable properties on the west end of Uptown.
Rumor has it that among those lucky speculators is an individual or group that has obtained options to purchase one or more of the properties along Third Street just south of Touhy, although we have been unable to confirm that rumor and, therefore, invite confirmation or correction by the owners of those parcels or anyone else with credible evidence on the topic.
Once again leading the “ordinary citizens” in this latest battle against higher-density residential – as they did in the Battle of Executive Office Plaza – were 5th Ward residents Judy Barclay and Carla Owen, the latter who likened this continuing effort to the movie “Groundhog Day.” In the opposite corner, at least symbolically, was Carrie Davis, the City’s “acting” Director of Preservation and Community Development – a title that might induce schizophrenia in anybody who truly cares about “preservation” but which is worn as comfortably by the pro-development Davis as it was by her predecessor, the pro-development Randy Derifield.
Voting to hold the line against greater height and density by confining R-5 to the B-4 Uptown “core” were P&Z members Cathy Piche and Milda Roszkiewicz, while rolling over for the developers were members Anita Rifkind, Aurora Abella-Austriaco (who is challenging Rosemary Mulligan for her state representative seat in November, presumably not on a “preservationist” platform), Tom Provencher, Chairman Alfredo Marr, Joseph A. Baldi and Louis Arrigoni.
Piche and Roszkiewicz deserve a “well done!” from those of us who don’t want more height and density destroying the character and feel of our community. The others? They’ll have to be content with a pat on the back from the mayor.
Where will it all end? Can you say “Des Plaines”?
6 comments so far
I’m attempting to educate myself on this issue and I don’t understand the map. What is the “Central Business District”?
Thanks
As we understand the use of the terms, the “Central Business District” is the entire outlined region – both the light and dark shaded areas. The “core” is the light-shaded B-4 district.
Good to know that the latest democratic hope to challenge Rosemary Mulligan is siding with Frimark.
Strange bedfellows!
The meeting was quite scary. At the onset you’d have thought the committee members had never talked about the issue. It seemed none of them, including Ms. Davis, had read or understood what they were discussing. It was like a “Who’s on First” bit.
And Ms. Davis seemed to do all she could to frustrate the efforts of those looking to limit or eliminate the R-5. She wanted everyone (and I will include all those in the gallery) to rely on the integrity (if that’s the right word) of the committee and the city council to maintain zoning balance in the community and to be wise in any use of the R-5.
It was quite illustrative when one gallery member (Pat L., I think) came to the podium and ticked off about a dozen matters that the community relied on the committee and counsel to curb (no pun intended) and they went in direct opposition to the desires of much of the community… EOP being just the latest example.
At least they corrected the “typo” and got rid of “adjacent to”. A victory of sorts.
Strange to see that you have adopted the error of the local press in reporting that the commissioners voting against the change recommended included Cathy Piche. It was Commissioner Aurora Abella-Austriaco who voted against the change proposed, on the basis that she wanted to limit the R-5 zoning area to the B-4 area. Too bad. You had such a witty comment to include criticizing her in her run against Rep Mulligan. Also odd that you would find the vote a roll over to developers since we took all the “adjacent” area off the table for R-5 zoning. But hey, I understand. Sweeping generalizations are the stuff of blogs and no one sweeps better than the PubDogs. Nevertheless, whether I like your point of view or not, I value your right to shout your opinion to the electronic housetops. Oh, just for the record. Right now I would be afraid that any pat on the back from Howie would include a sharp object, given his recent rants. I’ll just content my self to try to listen and vote the way I think is best for Park Ridge and try to get it right more than I get it wrong.
We admit that we got that bit of information from the local press, so if they were in error so were we. Unfortunately, a search of the City’s website does not include even the draft minutes of that meeting, so we cannot confirm the vote from an “official” source.
If it proves true that Ms. Austriaco voted to confine R-5 to the B-4 area, we will gladly withdraw our criticism and substitute our gratitude. However, we stand by our comment that the rest of you rolled over for developers, since you could have voted to confine the R-5 to the B-4 district but, instead, you let R-5 expand to the entirety of the “Central Business District” where any new construction will certainly be multi-family residential by the likes of the well-connected developers like PRC, Norwood, etc.
So if anybody gets a pat on the back from Mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark on that R-5 vote, it’s likely to be those of you who rolled over for Howie’s developer buddies.
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