Des Plaines city council members voted unanimously at a recent meeting to approve zoning changes that could pave the way for a proposed billion dollar development near Rivers Casino.
Officials approved the 6th Ward zoning changes in March, but a final vote on the matter was previously deferred due to area residents’ concerns about the proposed development. Early plans include two hotels, residential buildings, office and retail space on O’Hare Lake office complex, a 48-acre parcel of land surrounding Peterson Lake, north of Devon Avenue and across the street from Rivers Casino.
City manager Michael Bartholomew said he and the city’s director of community and economic development, George Sakas, met with residents earlier this month to get a better idea of what their key concerns were, and to ask the owner of the property, Robert Kozonis, to make concessions to assuage their worries.
The biggest concern for residents was the maximum height for buildings allowed under the initially proposed ordinance, Bartholomew said. As a result of discussions with the residents, Bartholomew said Kozonis agreed to an ordinance that would reduce the originally proposed maximum building height from 165 feet to 125 feet when buildings are located within 150 feet of any residence.
Additionally, Bartholomew said the owner of the property agreed to changes that would require any residential buildings constructed in the new zoning district to follow city-wide parking requirements, which call for two parking spaces per unit. Further, he said, the setback required for buildings adjacent to homes was increased from 25 feet to 50 feet, and retail space must be restricted to office and hotel buildings but is no longer limited to the ground floor level.
“I wouldn’t say they are 100 percent happy,” Bartholomew said, referring to the residents who had expressed concerns about the zoning changes and the proposed development.
But, he said, the residents he spoke with know that a future planning process will determine what the buildings will actually look like and where they will be placed in the proposed development. Final plans for the project will also require approval from city council members.
“For the most part, it was easy to discuss the issues that the homeowners brought up with the city and I look forward to working with the city in the future,” said Rich Einecker, who lives next to the proposed development and has served as a spokesperson for his fellow residents on this matter.
Still, Einecker said he believes that 125-foot buildings next to homes in the area is still too high a maximum allowable height.
His fellow neighbor, George Cutro, said the required setback is still is not large enough.
“A 125-foot building with a 50-foot setback, does that really create enough buffer for these residents? We don’t think it does,” he said.
Einecker said that the proposed development poses “a quality of life issue” to the residents in the area, and he suggested that discussions about compensation for those homeowners affected by the project begin before construction on the project starts.
“I wish everyone was perfectly happy but I think there were some significant compromises here that make it workable,” said Ald. James Brookman, 4th.
Other council members echoed Brookman’s sentiments, including newly installed Sixth Ward Alderman Malcom Chester.
“We do have a (planned unit of development) process and this is not over yet,” he said.
Gaines is a freelance reporter.