To the editor,
The published letter to the editor in the Dec. 25 edition of the Wilmette Life paints a rosy picture surrounding the proposed Housing Opportunity Development Corporation project. Unfortunately, there are a number of legitimate concerns surrounding the proposed project that many of the supporters do not want to acknowledge or address.
I’m certain no one in Wilmette would be opposed to “Wilmette residents with physical disabilities, veterans and adults with autism” living in the proposed development. The concern many residents have is with “opening the development to all applicants, as the law requires.”
I attended the town hall meeting on Dec. 8 at the park district facility to listen and present my concerns. It was clear that these meetings are not an opportunity to seek community input, as HODC has claimed. They are designed to promote HODC’s position and limit any discussion about the residents’ real concerns about the project. It seems like anyone who questions the project is considered uncharitable and bigoted, which is false and unfair.
As someone suggested at the meeting, there needs to be a different forum, such as an independent survey, to collect the community’s input. That feedback could be collated and presented to all parties for a fact-based discussion. That would be a better approach than sitting for hours listening to the same vague information over and over.
Dave Wisel
Wilmette, IL