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Stop Deerfield warehouse proposal
As a longtime resident of north and northwest suburbs, I am bewildered by the proposed construction of a million-square-feet mega warehouse with light manufacturing, serviced daily by hundreds of heavy trucks. The proposal involves purchasing 101 acres of Baxter campus, and requests annexing land and turning approximately 3% of Deerfield into an industrial zone.
The proposed industrial development is less than 1,000 feet away from residential areas of Deerfield and Riverwoods. Notably, industrial development will be on a parcel of land that is a highly attractive location for a residential real estate development.
This proposal will result in deforestation and destruction of acres of grassland of the corporate campus, combined with increased air pollution levels from exhaust of idling trucks. Heavy trucks driving through a suburb that has no roads designated as truck routes will require more frequent road repairs. Traffic jams due to slowly moving and turning trucks will clog up main road arteries connecting Deerfield, Riverwoods and Northbrook to Interstate 294.
Finally, I question the wisdom of business decisions because this area is quickly becoming saturated with large warehouses. There is a warehouse complex 10 miles to the north on I-294 in Waukegan, and another warehouse complex under construction five miles to the south on I-294 in Glenview. Both of these warehouse complexes have better access to I-294, located closer to suburban industrial areas, and do not cause any of the disruptions to local residents as compared to the proposed warehouse in Deerfield.
Alexander Heifetz, Riverwoods
Make your voices heard
Gas fumes, squealing wheels and 24-hour lights are just a few obvious things that will destroy our adjoining communities and natural environment. Saunders is a small winding street, leading to various “bedroom communities” on which kids ride bikes after school to play with friends. No parent in their right mind will allow their children to share space with huge eighteen-wheelers, especially knowing that a huge trucking warehouse is just a block away.
We cannot let this proposed monstrosity destroy our children’s quality of life, our environment and our mental health. I implore my fellow neighbors to make your voices heard. Go to meetings, speak your mind and — with respect — state your reasons for stopping this sale which will change our lives for decades to come if you stay silent.
Carole Klein-Alexander, Riverwoods
Deerfield residents are with us
Does a big village have any responsibility legally or morally to its smaller neighbors who support its schools and businesses? We are about to find out because a large and growing group of Deerfield residents support our position, and we aren’t going quietly into the night.
Dan and Cindy Wolf, Riverwoods
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Opposition is strong
You are correct in noting that the opposition is strong. Local residents in Deerfield, Riverwoods and Northbrook believe irrevocable harm will come to humans and wildlife in our communities if these warehouses totaling at least 1.2 million square feet are developed. The estimated 600 plus trucks will bring carcinogenic emissions which will be detrimental to life in our area.
I hope that when the new hearing time and location are finally announced by the Deerfield planning commission, even more people will come out to voice their opposition.
Inna Gutman, Riverwoods
The community is responding with loud and unified voice
While a corporate behemoth touts purely speculative tax benefits to the village of Deerfield, the community itself is answering with a loud and unified voice: “Thanks but no thanks to revenue based on the addition of traffic, air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution, environmental destruction and the degradation of the reputation of our beautiful oasis in metropolitan Chicago.”
Adam Joffe, Riverwoods
Plan would ruin family friendly environment
We moved to the area due to its quiet setting, pretty neighborhoods, great schools and family friendly environment. Our children also live in the area with our four grandchildren who attend the neighborhood schools.
The proposed Baxter redevelopment will significantly and negatively affect all of the aforementioned reasons why we and almost all of the local residents decided to live in the area.
Decisions have consequences, and are the Deerfield officials willing to own the dire repercussions if they approve the redevelopment and how it impacts the ambience, noise, pollution, safety and general turmoil on the residents of Deerfield and Riverwoods?
Len Levine, Riverwoods
Thanks to Help Them To Hope
All of us at COOL Ministries are once again so thankful this year for the generosity and support of your readers who give to the Help Them To Hope campaign, as well as for the volunteers who work to make this annual giving event successful.
COOL and those we serve have benefited from the Help Them To Hope campaign for many years, and we’re in need of the support that the it gives this year more than ever before. The grant from Help Them To Hope assisted COOL in feeding over 17,000 people in the last three months alone.
We here at COOL have never seen so many new faces come through the door, telling us that the need for food is great. COOL Food Pantry distributed more than 700,300 meals to hungry families throughout Lake County in 2022. Our food pantry not only helps Lake County families to meet their nutritional needs, but we also provide toiletry boxes for veterans as well. These boxes filled with toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste and other hygiene products help our veterans to stretch their budgets and meet their basic needs.
Recently, I had the pleasure of having a conversation with one of our veterans at the pantry. He expressed to me how grateful he was for the toiletry box, but he said he is even more grateful for the smiling faces he is greeted by at the pantry. The once-a-month trip filled with conversations between himself, and the other patrons and employees, is one he always looks forward to.
COOL is so very thankful to Help Them to Hope and all their partners. Without the help of organizations like yours, it would not be possible for COOL to continue feeding the hungry and housing the homeless of Lake County. We hope that your contributors will continue to support the Help Them To Hope campaign for many years to come.
Mindy Lindholm, executive director, COOL Ministries
Donation supports lifesaving work
A Safe Place would like to thank the readers of the Lake County News-Sun for their generous support of the Help Them to Hope Campaign. Your investment supports the lifesaving work of A Safe Place.
A Safe Place is the sole provider of services in Lake County exclusively focusing on domestic violence and human trafficking victims. Through comprehensive programs, A Safe Place assists victims and their children in transforming their lives after domestic violence and human trafficking, prevents future abuse by addressing its root cause through abuser intervention programs, and educates the community about domestic violence and how we can all be involved in its end.
Last year, A Safe Place served over 28,383 community members. Programs and services include, emergency shelter, permanent housing, scattered homes, a 24-hour crisis line (800-600-SAFE), crisis response services, legal advocacy, individual and children’s therapy, support groups, art therapy, family visitation services, monitored custody exchanges, batterer intervention services, prevention education in the middle and high schools, and professional and community training.
For more information about our lifesaving programming, please visit our website at www.asafeplaceforhelp.org. For more information about Help Them to Hope, visit www.helpthemtohope.com.
Pat Davenport, executive director/CEO, A Safe Place
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