The Housing Opportunity Development Corporation has withdrawn its proposal to build a 20-unit affordable housing apartment building on the site of the shuttered American Legion Post at 1925 Wilmette Ave. in Wilmette.
The developer said, though, that the withdrawal of the plans doesn’t mean the project is dead.
In a Nov. 16 letter to John Adler, Wilmette’s community development director, Housing Opportunity Development Corporation executive director Richard Koenig wrote that the organization would like time to speak with the community before re-submitting plans.
“We have heard the concerns of the community and based on issues raised, we would like to take time to respond thoughtfully and consider modifications to better meet the needs of Wilmette families,” the letter read.
Koenig said Monday he intends to set up a series of community meetings with Wilmette residents, dozens of whom turned out Nov. 3 to speak against the project. He said he would like to hold the first meeting on Dec. 1, the date the Wilmette Plan Commission originally had planned to resume hearing the planned unit development case for the project.
Koenig said he was working on a location for the first meeting but did not have one yet.
In his letter, Koenig said his organization has drafted a list of frequently asked questions concerning the proposal.
“We anticipate coming back with a new application that addresses the concerns of the community,” the letter read.
But on Monday, Koenig said that he would not guess when that might happen.
“I wouldn’t put that pressure on anybody,” he said. “It’s unrealistic to do that. Listening to people at the hearing, they felt that they didn’t have enough time, so I don’t want to put any date up there that makes people feel like there’s some sort of deadline.”
Adler said that by withdrawing the proposal rather than asking for a postponement of the existing case means any future plan would be starting from scratch.
“What this does is hit ‘reset,'” Adler said. “Unless he comes back with the same proposal, there’s really no further discussion on the plan commission level. Once he formulates new plans, he’d submit them and a hearing would be scheduled.”
Opponents of the project, which was first announced in July, turned out on Nov. 3 to complain that the proposed building’s 10 studio and 10 one-bedroom apartments would lower property values, add traffic near its location near the intersection of Wilmette Avenue and Ridge Road, would fail to prioritize low-income Wilmette residents and would bring dangerous or undesirable people into the village – among other complaints.
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On Nov. 10, a smaller group attended the regular village board meeting. There, four people spoke against the proposal and one supported it, despite being told by Cameron Krueger, the board’s temporary president, that the case wasn’t being heard by the board that night and probably would not go before village trustee for months.
Wilmette Village President Bob Bielinski could not be reached late Monday afternoon for comment.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy