Three Winnetka candidates running for village trustee without the backing of the village’s caucus have expressed significantly more support for the proposed One Winnetka development than the caucus-backed candidates.
Six candidates are running for three open village trustee seats. On Feb. 11, the three independents – two of whom are incumbents — answered four questions at a candidate forum hosted by the Rotary Club of Northfield-Winnetka at the Winnetka Community House. The three Winnetka Caucus-endorsed candidates responded to nearly identical questions at a Rotary Club forum a week earlier.
The independent candidates differed significantly from the caucus-backed candidates on a range of issues, from the One Winnetka development to stormwater fees, and even what the village should do with the downtown post office site.
Moderator John Thomas, president of the Rotary Club of Northfield-Winnetka, asked the candidates to share their opinion on the proposed One Winnetka project. The plan commission voted last fall to recommend approval of the multi-use planned development at Lincoln Avenue south of Elm Street, and the village’s design review board voted to defer issuing a recommendation on it until Feb. 18. The village council is expected to consider the revised plans for the project in March.
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Village trustee candidate Kristin Ziv, a former Winnetka Caucus Council member, said she believed the developer behind the proposed project, Stonestreet Partners, is “negotiating in good faith” with the village and had “persevered through a daunting process.”
She said the development would be a $90 million asset to the village and most Winnetkans she had spoken with support it.
Ziv said a vote against the project “could be a big signal to the development community that Winnetka is closed for business, and that is not what the residents of the community want.”
Incumbent Carol Fessler noted that after working with the Plan Commission, the developer agreed to knock down the height of the project from seven to five and a half stories. She acknowledged concern that the proposed structure may appear out of place next to much the shorter and older surrounding buildings, but asked the audience to consider “the costs and benefits to having things stay the same.”
“I think we can honor our past and treasure our historically significant buildings without destroying our future,” Fessler said.
In response to audience questions, incumbent Marilyn Prodromos said the developer had engaged in substantial outreach with the community and created “an amazing business plan” that could create “synergy” with other downtown businesses by increasing foot traffic.
All three candidates support developing the post office sooner rather than later, instead of waiting for completion of the One Winnetka project to begin courting interest in the downtown property.
All three candidates said the stormwater fee approved by the village in 2014 was a fair and appropriate way to generate funds to tackle chronic flooding.
They differed in their reasons as running as independents.
Fessler said the century-old caucus had helped move the village forward, but said she chose to run as an independent “to honor the people of Winnetka.” Prodromos said that by running independently, she wasn’t obligated to support special interest groups, organizations or individuals. Meanwhile, Ziv called the caucus “undemocratic, non-inclusive and non-transparent.”
“The voters of Winnetka do not need the filter of the caucus to tell them who to vote for,” she said.
Lee V. Gaines is a freelance reporter for the Pioneer Press.