Hinsdale will turn to the Internet to hold a public hearing on a topic generating strong opinions on both sides, a temporary moratorium on demolishing historic or significant homes.
The village’s plan commission will hold a public hearing June 10 via a Zoom online conference on whether the village should impose a moratorium of up to 180 days on the demolition of any single-family houses that have landmark status or were found to be historically significant or contributing to a historic district, according to a village survey done in 1999.
Members of the public are not encouraged to attend the public hearing in person, due to coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings. So the village is sending letters to all residents with details on how they can participate, either by emailing comments, writing a letter or speaking online during the hearing. All emails and letters must be received by 4:30 p.m. June 10 to be included in the public hearing.
Emails, with the words, “Public comments-demolition-moratorium,” should be sent to Village Clerk Christine Bruton at [email protected]
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. Written comments may be submitted to the Village Clerk, 19 E. Chicago Avenue, Hinsdale, Illinois 60521.People who wish to speak live during the Zoom meeting must register in advance by the same deadline by contacting Bruton via email.
Members of the plan commission will listen to input from the community and then discuss the matter themselves in order to advise the village board on whether they think a temporary moratorium is a good idea.
The Hinsdale Village Board will decide whether to impose the moratorium or not. The moratorium’s purpose would be to give the village staff and officials time to consider how to amend the zoning code to put reasonable steps and restrictions on demolishing historic houses.
Some residents are concerned that too many notable old homes in Hinsdale have been torn down to make room for new, modern homes. The stately historic homes are key to the village’s charm and character, some residents say.
A house, built in 1893, was torn down in March after no buyer who wanted to renovate it could be found. Plans to demolish three other houses about a century old are before the village’s Historic Preservation Commission. A moratorium, if enacted, would not apply to those homes because buyers already submitted plans for them.
But that has not stopped some preservation advocates from circulating a petition to preserve one or more of them. Meanwhile, a group called Hinsdale Homeowners for Property Rights, advocating for individual property owners’ rights, is conducting a survey on Facebook asking Hinsdale residents whether they want the moratorium.
People involved in those houses, at 419 S. Oak St., at 716 S. Oak St. and at 641 S. Elm St., have urged the preservation commission to resume its meetings, so their projects can proceed. A public hearing on the demolition and plans for new homes for each address was started at the Historic Preservation Commission’s March 4 meeting and continued to presumably the commission’s next meeting, which was cancelled due to the pandemic.
The preservation commission will meet June 3 via a Zoom video conference, but the three houses targeted for demolition are not on the agenda. When the agenda was set, the village had not yet decided to hold public hearings via the Internet, John Bohnen, the preservation commission chairman, said.
Bohnen does not believe online public hearings are fair to all the residents.
“It’s my opinion a fair and impartial hearing cannot be held electronically due to the inability of the average citizen to weigh in,” he said.
Bohnen, who owns County Line Properties Inc., said he participates in weekly Zoom meetings with his real estate agents, but does not think the format is a good substitute for an in-person public hearing on a matter people feel strongly about.
The plan commission at its June 10 online meeting also will hold a public hearing on a senior and assisted living development for the western portion of the Institute for Basic Life Principles property on Ogden Avenue, between Route 83 and Adams Street.
Ryan Companies is proposing to build 245 units for seniors who need varying levels of care and nine single-story villas for independent living. Members of the community can submit comments via email or letters to the village clerk at the same address as above, by 4:30 p.m. June 10. People who wish to comment during the meeting should register in advance, by sending an email to the village clerk, at [email protected]. Write “Pre-registration – IBLP planned development” in the subject line.
For more information about the senior living proposal, read the letter posted on the village website.