It has been a month since Covenant Living of Northbrook came before the Northbrook board of trustees with a proposal to build its Carriage Homes at its senior development in Northbrook at 2625 Techny Road.
And while developers addressed concerns raised by neighbors and trustees at the Aug. 8 board of trustees meeting, the response is still not adequate for Greenview Road resident Maureen Lampert.
Lampert and her husband Lester Lampert attended the Northbrook Village Board’s Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting on Sept. 12.
The modifications proposed by Covenant to appease neighbors has Maureen Lampert still feeling, “not really” satisfied.
Covenant Living owns four properties with three homes on Greenview Road. Two homes are also owned by Covenant on Techny Road with one residence slated to be razed.
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A water detention section is proposed with engineering approval to reconfigure the waterway to accommodate the carriage home complex.
“They’re going to ruin,” the neighborhood,” said Maureen Lampert, who indicated the Greenview Road vicinity has a pattern where landowners, “tear down little houses and build nicer, big houses, that generally is what happens in the neighborhood.
“I have an expensive home and to have a retention pond with water laying on the street is not exactly attractive to me,” Maureen Lampert added.
Covenant Living seeks zoning variances and relief to construct its highly promoted three-story Carriage Homes series.
Covenant wants to build a trio of residential buildings, totaling 36 units, replacing one 24-unit single-story residential building on the northeast side of the property with frontage on Techny Road.
The plan includes relocating an aboveground stream onto residential lots owned by Covenant Living on the east side of Mayapple Lane.
The Covenant Living website states its Carriage Homes are almost fully reserved. “Become a charter member today” is promoted at https://www.covlivingnorthbrook.org/senior-living-community-chicago/carriage-homes/.
“The model retirement has a whole new model and it’s coming to Covenant Living of Northbrook,” the website advocates. “Almost 100% reserved! Don’t miss out.”
Alysa Fields, also a Greenview Road resident, echoed Lampert and said, “No, I am not satisfied at all.
“They’ve not been upfront and honest,” Fields said of Covenant Living. “They’re very sneaky. There’s no respect.”
Lorie Longo, also a Greenview Road resident, said neighbors were not notified about plans by Covenant Living.
“We never got letters,” Longo said. “I just want them to be open and honest and respect our wishes.”
At the dais, Trustee Muriel J. Collison said, ‘I do appreciate Covenant Village.
“I just would be remiss if I wasn’t honest and truthful in saying that I feel that this communication with the neighbors has been not good.”
Covenant met twice with neighbors earlier this month but Collison felt the way the meetings were planned became, “uncomfortable.
“I don’t think that was appropriate to sort of pit residents, it sounded like it was residents against neighbors,” Collison said. “That was a little discouraging to me.”
Covenant Living representatives, including their attorneys, appeared before trustees outlining how they strive to be good neighbors.
Of resistance by neighbors, “I totally get it,” said Randy Gross, vice president, project development for Covenant Living Communities & Services.
In a letter to the village, Gross wrote that Covenant will maintain rental homes owned by the facility that nearby neighbors have charged were run down, had flooded sewage issues and showed neglect.
“We recognize that it is Covenant Living of Northbrook’s responsibility to maintain each property externally and internally,” the letter by Gross stated.
“We believe that we have been good neighbors in the past but through this process found we could improve on building relationships with the neighbors,” Gross further stated.
Legal language will be included to protect the village in case Covenant Village fails on its land acquisition maintenance.
The large number of 911 first responder calls to Covenant Living are also of concern to trustees.
Northbrook Fire Chief Andy Carlson said the fire department met with Covenant Village, which has a high percentage of original residents from Northbrook who choose to move there.
Most of Covenant Living’s calls are emergency calls but, “then there’s a category of calls that we can work on or they’re willing to work on to try to reduce,” Carlson said.
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Examples of calls that could be handled in house at Covenant include situations when someone needs help getting up or for false elevator alarms as, “the calls that can be worked on,” Carlson said.
After the COW meeting, Lester Lampert said to Pioneer Press about Covenant Living, “They compromised a little today, they bent a little to make it more amenable.”
Trustees are, “sticking up for the residents,” Lester Lampert said.
Maureen Lampert said, “They’re trying to do a good job.”
“They did a nice job,” Lester Lampert also said, adding that it, “is very important,’ to, “protect the value of our homes.”
Trustees voted to direct staff to prepare documents about the carriage homes proposal to go to a Board of Trustees meeting for a decision.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.