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Two Northbrook redevelopment projects considered for the Sept. 26 Northbrook Village Board of Trustees meeting were poised for approval but one of them was delayed until possibly the end of the year.
And that elephant in the room was Northbrook Court.
While many audience chairs were filled with neighbors opposing the expansion of Covenant Living of Northbrook, it was Northbrook Court’s latest redevelopment package, also supposed to be on the Sept. 26 agenda, that became a footnote in the village manager’s report.
To boot, Northbrook Village Manager Cara Pavlicek made no public mention of Northbrook Court during the meeting when it was Pavlicek’s turn to speak. Followers curious about Northbrook Court’s status had to know where to look for the Sept. 26 agenda packet on the village website.
Published online was correspondence dated last Sept. 21 indicating that Brookfield Properties, Northbrook Court owner, asked for another time extension, impacting a Redevelopment and Economic Incentive Agreement (REIA).
This is another in a series of Northbrook Court extension requests granted by the village since 2019.
Ben Freeman, senior vice president of Brookfield Properties Development, wrote, “Extending the required submittals due date will allow sufficient time to complete and consider the framework for the redevelopment project to the village staff and village board.”
Pavlicek granted the extension to this Dec. 31, writing to Brookfield Properties that, “I appreciate your continued commitment to working towards the future redevelopment of Northbrook Court.
“The redevelopment of this property remains a high priority for the Village of Northbrook,” Pavlicek further wrote. “I continue to appreciate Brookfield’s shared recognition of the historical importance of Northbrook Court to the community as a commercial anchor and the community’s desire to ensure its future viability.”
Northbrook Court’s redevelopment package received resounding positive reception by village trustees and plan commissioners at a special meeting of trustees and the Northbrook Plan Commission last Aug. 29 in the same boardroom at Village Hall.
A new tax increment financing district (TIF) is poised to assist in funding mall redevelopment with a 1 % tax added to a shopper’s Northbrook Court business district mall receipt.
The Aug. 29 affirmative vote directed staff to produce documents so trustees could vote on Northbrook Court at the Sept. 26 board meeting. A village spokesperson told Pioneer Press consideration of Northbrook Court could be scheduled as early as Oct. 10.
COVENANT LIVING OF NORTHBROOK CARRIAGE HOMES
While Northbrook Court approvals did not happen on Tuesday night, what did was overwhelming trustee approval of a controversial expansion of Covenant Living of Northbrook to the dismay of a group of area neighbors.
Covenant’s Carriage Homes project was approved Sept. 26 as part of a supermajority zoning vote. The supermajority requirement was triggered by a zoning protest received by the village on Sept. 24 and filed by a Greenview Road neighbor on behalf of five Greenview Road residents, two on the west side, and three on the east side of Greenview.
Neighbors have charged that Covenant Living acted sneakily by quietly buying up residential properties to assemble land to accommodate its Carriage Homes expansion.
Immediately after the supermajority vote, “It’s ridiculous,” said one disgusted neighbor who wished to not be identified.
Two Covenant Living representatives declined to comment to Pioneer Press shortly after the vote in Covenant’s favor.
Covenant Living sought zoning variances and relief to construct its highly promoted three-story Carriage Homes series.
Covenant will build a trio of residential buildings with 36 units, replacing one 24-unit single-story residential building on the northeast side of the property fronting Techny Road.
The plan includes relocating an above-ground stream onto residential lots now owned by Covenant Living on the east side of Mayapple Lane. The reconfiguration of the local waterway system has been endorsed by engineers.
The Carriage Homes proposal was debated at a Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting last Sept. 12 in a Tuesday evening workshop format meeting by the Northbrook board of trustees.
What was added since that Sept. 12 meeting was legalese protecting the village including impact fees related to 911 and non-emergency calls that exceed amounts determined for a facility that size.
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Legal documents also require constructing a public sidewalk extension on the south side of Techny Road in front of the properties owned by Covenant, property upkeep, the prohibition of future purchases of single family homes by Covenant on Greenview Road and a fee-in-lieu to comply with the village’s affordable housing ordinance.
Matt Margolis, the Greenview Road name associated with the zoning protest filing, told Pioneer Press, “Listen, you know, we are all for Covenant Living expanding and having a nice place for the residents to live.
“We think they’re a great and integral part of our community.
“We just feel like there’s different ways that they could have done their expansion on the already existing land that they own,” Margolis said.
“Instead,” Margolis added, “they decided to purchase land sort of what we feel like was in a residential neighborhood, looking to rezone properties.
“We feel like it’s going to have a negative impact on our homes.”
Greenview Road residents Lester and Maureen Lampert attended Sept. 26 and other public meetings about the Carriage Homes.
“I was just worried about seeing laying water,” Maureen Lampert said, concerned about diverted stream water pooling past stormwater detention areas onto streets or causing residential basement flooding.
For Lester Lampert, the Sept. 26 vote was, “more than a compromise, I think we got some things, there’s more to go.
“You can’t win the whole thing,” Lester Lampert said, but, “I think it’s successful.
“It’s not 100 percent,” Lester Lampert added. “But I think that they’ll (the village) watch them (Covenant Living).
“I think they’ll watch them.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.