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player ready...Northbrook Village President Kathryn L. Ciesla received no “fore” warning about a major wedge by developers of the former Green Acres Country Club land located on Dundee Road.
Golfers are given a “Fore” if a wayward golf ball comes their way. But Ciesla had no heads up when Erickson Living Properties, LLC abruptly revealed the company is changing course on its new senior living facility planned for the former golfing site.
Erickson Living Properties has proposed a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) with 800 independent senior living units and 108 assisted living units consisting of 155 beds.
Developers are seeking an amendment to the village’s Comprehensive Plan to convert the former golf course from open space and outdoor recreation to a special residential (SSR) destination.
The rezoning would be for approximately 79 of the 127.11 acres from an open space (OS) district to residential specialty (RS).
This proposal by Erickson Living Properties, contract purchaser of 916, 940 and 1002 Dundee Road, was on the agenda to be discussed at the Oct. 25 Village Board meeting.
Instead, Northbrook Village President Kathryn L. Ciesla told the boardroom audience that Erickson Living Properties notified Ciesla and Northbrook Village Manager Cara Pavlicek onOct. 24 of a, “very significant” proposal change, Ciesla said.
Opened in 1924, Green Acres Country Club closed doors in 2016, leaving nearly $16 million owed to JP Morgan Chase Bank. The land is owned by GA Northbrook LLC, incorporated in 2018.
Since the country club’s closure, residents living nearby have protested land development proposals as too dense due to the high number of requested buildings which have included residential mixed with commercial.
The Erickson proposal has raised the ire of homeowners residing in the vicinity of Fairway Lane, Waters Edge Lane, Lee Road, Morrison Road and the Ballantrae subdivision.
They worry about potential noise and traffic chaos plus a loss of rural feel and home property values. They fear building sight lines and lighting issues. Some live near a cemetery along Lee Road and prefer the quiet.
Neighbors and numerous elected officials have been adamant to preserve open space. Northbrook School District 28, which would serve new residential at the former country club, has gone on record about concerns of overcrowding in present schools with a population influx of new resident families.
Last September, the Northbrook Plan Commission denied the proposal outright, but the Erickson Senior Living item was still on Oct. 25’s Board of Trustees agenda for public comment and trustee discussion.
“This is a unique situation,” Ciesla said. “We haven’t had a developer, at least in the time that I can remember, come in with such a large project and then after the Plan Commission, make significant changes to it.”
Many neighbors were in the audience and ready to speak at the podium when it was their turn.
But the proposal was moved to a future Committee of the Whole meeting at an undetermined date, allowing residents, village staff and plan commissioners the opportunity to absorb the new proposal when Erickson Living Properties returns to the casual meeting roundtable.
Ciesla said affordable housing will be part of the revised plan, but Ciesla would not reveal details about overall changes.
“Not now,” Ciesla said to Pioneer Press.
During the meeting, Ciesla did say the developer was prepared to address traffic lights on Dundee Road.
Neighbors have for years expressed frustration with the way Shermer Road and Lee Road meet up with Dundee Road, also Route 68.
The stoplight at Dundee and Shermer in particular is on an deep angle. Planned development across the street at the former Green Acres site will impact stoplight systems on that stretch.
The village hired a consultant to do a fiscal impact study which determined a projected 484 employees coming to work at a senior living employer.
A combined 1,678 total includes employees and residents if the plan were to be approved as is. The study also indicated the burden of ambulance calls is estimated to be at hundreds of responses, further impacting traffic flow.
The study also described a potential money drain and deficit situation from the get-go for the library and municipal services due to the project’s scope.
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Neighbors have come out in force to village meetings and have written numerous emails to village staff and elected officials.
On Tuesday evening, Ciesla assured homeowners they would have time to review the new plans, despite concerns by some that a redone proposal would be rushed through.
“I just want to make sure that everybody’s playing on the same field here,” Ciesla said to neighbors in the audience. “What you all have to say is really important to us.
“We’re not going to sandbag you.”
Ciesla said public hearings will be included if a new plan navigates through the village process.
The Committee of Whole meeting is the next logical step for the public to hear the developer’s new pitch, Ciesla advocated.
“We’re not going to sidestep the process,” Ciesla said.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.