Politics & Government

Trustees Take Sides Over Eminent Domain, Draft Downtown Plan

Village board members discuss draft plan for downtown development, funded by a $100,000 grant from the RTA and an additional $25,000 from the village.

Presented with a draft plan for downtown development, some Northbrook trustees said was a waste of time and money, while others said it provided valuable information—even if implementation would be a challenge.

“It is not a blueprint. The developers are not going to start bulldozing tomorrow. It is an outline,” explained trustee James Karagianis, who reviewed the plan along with other board members at a public meeting Tuesday.

“It is a signal to the development community of what we would like to see.”

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Karagianis chaired a steering committee composed of property owners, developers and concerned citizens, who fine-tuned the plan over the last several months. The planning process began with a community survey and , and was led by a team of consultants funded through and $25,000 in matching funds from the village. 

In its final form, the plan identifies several areas for redevelopment, lists zoning changes that could foster downtown growth and lays out a design for street-level and signage improvements. Among the redevelopment proposals are a river walk behind Meadow Plaza, a new park near the library and a three-story parking garage combined with a four-story rental building at the Metra parking lot. 

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Trustee Kathryn Ciesla, who , was the most vocal critic of the plan. 

“I thought it was a waste of time and money,” she said. “This plan has gotten us information, but it’s going to be a letdown, because we’re not going to be able to implement it.” 

Public Price Tags Raise Eyebrows 

Ciesla honed in on the hefty price tag of some projects, as projected by the consultants. Their draft plan lays out how much each major building project would cost to build, how much a developer could expect to make in profits and whether there is a funding “gap” between those two figures. 

If a Metra parking garage were built in conjunction with apartments, the project could require an additional $9 million to make it economically feasible for a developer, according to the consultants’ projections. That gap could be made up by increased parking fees, tax increment financing or other public subsidies. 

“When I balance those multimillion dollars against the stormwater needs in our community, there’s no contest,” Ciesla said.

Trustees Michael Scolaro and Todd Heller also balked at the potential cost of some of the projects.

“There is nothing that has been indicated to me why we need to use public money,” said Heller. “We are not developers…that’s not our purview as government.” 

Community Members Clamor for Downtown Development

Whether development is the purview of government or not, both president Sandra Frum and trustee Bob Israel said that increased downtown development was one of the No. 1 requests they heard from community members. 

“When I ran for president, all I heard was, ‘What are you going to do for the downtown?’” Frum said. “I haven’t stopped hearing that.” 

Israel, the newest member of the board of trustees, said he, too, heard that question over and over while he was running for office. 

“I applaud this plan,” he said. “I look at this as us opening our hands to the businesses of Northbrook and saying, ‘What can we do to help?’” 

Regardless of whether—or how—the village board decided to move forward with the proposals in the plan, Karagianis said it was valuable for the information it provided alone. Looking at the price tag on the parking garage proposal, it seemed steep, he said. But at least the village had the numbers to consider. 

“This plan is already working,” he said. “It’s causing us to make decisions.” 

Eminent Domain Discussion Sparks Vocal Opposition 

, the steering committee recommended two tools for the village board to consider adopting to implement the plan: .

A TIF district would allow the village to reinvest all property tax revenues from one area in that same zone to encourage development. Such a zone would have to be legally created by the board of trustees. Eminent domain, on the other hand, allows a government body, such as the village or the park district, to acquire property for public use. Northbrook’s board of trustees outlawed the use of eminent domain downtown in 1999. 

“I think we should open up our minds and allow us to have these tools,” said Karagianis. 

Trustees Israel and Heller both said they supported the limited use of eminent domain for a public interest such as a park or fire station, but not for business development. Trustees Ciesla and Scolaro, however, said they would never support it. 

“I will never, ever vote for eminent domain,” Scolaro said. “I don’t care what the plan is.” 

Steering committee member and Village Green Center owner Selwyn Marcus also stood up at the meeting to express his opposition to eminent domain. In January, Marcus voted in support of the steering committee’s recommendations to the village board, including the suggestion to reconsider the use of eminent domain.

“That was a mistake,” he said, explaining that property owners had come to rely on the village’s prohibition of eminent domain, and he regretted his vote.

“If such uncertainty regarding the stability of property ownership were on the table, what incentive then is there for any property owner to invest, or to make improvements; or for new owners to want to buy in this community?” he said. “There are enough risks in property ownership without government adding to the equation.” 

The village board will discuss the draft plan for downtown development again at a regularly scheduled board meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, at . That meeting is open to the public.

 

 

 


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