Wilmette village trustees who met Nov. 10 got a brief taste of the affordable housing debate village plan commission members heard a week earlier, when five residents spoke about the 20-unit apartment building proposed for 1925 Wilmette Ave. – despite the issue not being on the agenda.
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Trustee Cameron Krueger, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Village President Bob Bielinski, said that the case has not yet gone through the plan commission’s hands. The commission heard three hours of testimony Nov. 3 from more than 40 residents and from petitioner the Housing Opportunity Development Corporation without making a decision. The plan commission will take the case up again Dec. 1.
“This board will not be taking any action on that development today as it’s not on our agenda and probably will not appear on our agenda for several months,” Krueger said after Alan Minoff, of the 500 block of Meadow Drive East, told trustees to reject the proposal.
“What is the benefit to Wilmette … of giving 20 lucky or politically chosen housing lottery winners the privilege of living here?” Minoff asked after saying that Wilmette residents share “the ability to afford purchasing their homes and maintain their own property.”
Mark Weyermuller, of the 200 block of Lawndale Avenue, said he was worried about the speed of the process, and said he believed that plan commissioners “were going to vote on approving it that night, that’s my understanding.” He also accused the development of bypassing the zoning process.
That prompted Michael Zimmermann, the village’s attorney, to point out that the plan commission chairman had said the commission would “take as long as needed” to hear from the public, that “at no point” had the commission indicated it would vote that night and that the plan commission’s review of the planned unit development request was, itself, the zoning process.
Two other people spoke against the proposal.
One resident, Lisa Braganca of the 2100 block of Washington Street, spoke in favor of it, saying, “this is not some development that will be filled with sex offenders, it will not be filled with criminals … I appreciate that we have to deal with fears. But they are that. They are not the reality.”
No trustees commented after the last speaker.
Instead, the board moved to its consent agenda, which included the introduction of the $64.06 million 2016 budget, scheduled for adoption at the board’s Nov. 24 meeting. The consent agenda passed without board or public comment.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy