FRANKFORT
Heritage Hall plans are rejected again
For the second time in 18 months, village trustees this week rejected redevelopment proposals for the century-old Heritage Hall building.
Village officials, citing a need to bring more people into the downtown commercial area, have been seeking redevelopment ideas for the building on Hickory Street.
The building houses the Village Board room, a meeting hall and a local cable television studio.
Trustee Kevin Egan said the two most recently discussed proposals for a mix of residential and commercial uses “never set anyone on fire.”
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Both proposals presented parking and other problems, Egan said.
Previous suggestions included turning the building into a music school, an American Legion post or a children’s museum.
A proposal for a business use was turned down last year when the developer missed a deadline.
Egan said the village will keep trying to get a workable plan.
“It’s important to have a use here that brings people to this part of downtown,” he said.
Pat Harper
ORLAND PARK
Greenhouse plan upsets neighbors
Village officials could deny the owner of a local garden center a permit to build a permanent greenhouse after complaints from neighbors who said it would upset their quality of life.
Residents began complaining after Bob Buikema, owner of Every Bloomin’ Thing at 7648 W. 159th St., did not take his temporary greenhouse down before last month’s deadline.
Officials, however, said they still might allow the permanent greenhouse, provided Buikema adds an adequate landscape buffer between his business and nearby homes.
“We could be opening a Pandora’s box,” said Village Manager R.J. Zeder at this week’s Village Board meeting, adding he is worried approval could set a bad precedent.
Buikema said he needs the permanent greenhouse to compete with other businesses such as Home Depot that have permanent outdoor structures under a different village zoning classification.
Trustees said they would likely have to create a new zoning classification for the greenhouse.
The issue will be discussed at a committee next week.
Carmen Greco Jr.
WILL COUNTY
Forest district acts to extend tax
Forest Preserve District commissioners have authorized a back-door referendum that will extend a current tax for 14 years, generating an estimated $50 million in general obligation bonds.
Executive Director Marcy DeMauro said about $5 million of the money is earmarked for partnerships with park districts and other local taxing bodies and about $45 million is for buying 1,000 more acres.
Extending the tax will cost the owner of a house worth $225,000, the average home value, about $11 a year until 2026.
Commissioners decided not to bring the issue before the public, noting that a telephone survey of Will County residents showed a 4-1 ratio of support.
Supporter Brook McDonald, executive director of the Conservation Foundation, told commissioners at a recent meeting that voters in the state have backed similar measures.
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But Democratic Commissioners Walt Adamic and Joe Babich of Joliet and John Anderson of Monee opposed the action, arguing voters should have been allowed to decide the issue.
At a public hearing on the issue, several county residents expressed strong support, and one objected.
Dennis Sullivan