The Skokie Village Board approved one piece of a proposal to develop a Buddhist center just south of downtown Skokie, but rejected two others, leaving the religious group with uncertainty. One village trustee also expressed unease after a resident referred to the Buddhist group as “these people.”
The Board, at its July 7 meeting, was considering a developer’s plans that called for a three-story community center with 17 dormitories to be located at 7852 Lincoln Avenue, near Babb and Lincoln Avenues.It remains unclear whether they could modify their plans and get a green light from the village.
Mayor Ann Tennes cast the tie-breaking vote to reject Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association’s site plans to build the community center and also reject their proposal to include dormitories. Tennes did not vote on the proposal’s religious use of the property, which passed on a 4-2 vote.
“The (Buddhist) group is now re-evaluating its plans. Since their original proposal included a dormitory and that part was not approved, they will need to decide how to move forward with a revised building plan for religious use,” said Meredith Gioia, communications manager for the village of Skokie, in an email.
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She said the group could potentially revise their plan prior to the Board’s second reading, which would give the Board a chance to consider it at a future regularly-scheduled meeting.
The Skokie Plan Commission had previously approved all three parts of the group’s proposal before sending it to the entire Village Board for consideration.
Before the vote at the July 7 meeting, neighbors living closest to the proposed site stated their objections to the proposal, including traffic and parking concerns.
Nadiia Vasilj, who lives within a half mile of the proposed site, said she didn’t oppose the project because it was a Buddhist proposal. “Every single window of my house faces some kind of church,” she said.
“Lincoln and Babb are super busy. We also have a junior high at that intersection,” she said, referring to Lincoln Junior High. “The structure itself does not represent Skokie. We really like the bank, which has Skokie representation, it has a beautiful building and a lot of parking lot [sic].”
When asked why the developer set its sights on 7852 Lincoln Ave., Dharma Drum Mountain’s President Alan Myers said he was aware that a former Zen center operated at that location at one point, and was hopeful that the neighborhood would be receptive to another Zen space.
“One of the speakers referred to the residents, or the folks who want to come, as ‘these people.’ It just kind of struck a chord with me,” Trustee Keith Robinson said. “People deserve to do what they want to do, practice whatever they want to.”
“We have to be more inclusive and not to ‘other.’ To me it was an ‘othered’ statement,” he said.
A major sticking point that concerned some residents was the possibility of Dharma Drum Mountain hosting an abbot visit, which could bring in 200 guests to the community center.
Myers said if the group decided to invite an abbot, it would be infrequent, and no more than once every two years. It also wouldn’t be guaranteed, as the abbot would have to accept the invitation, he said. Provisions in the group’s application also require Dharma Drum Mountain to give the village a 90-day notice for major events, and to provide guests with off-street parking within a half mile of its proposed location.
Employees of the center are required to park onsite, according to the developer’s application. The group’s regular 20 to 25 daily visitors to the center are also able to park onsite and at nearby businesses’ parking lots when not in use by those businesses, Myers said.
The dormitory access would also be limited to six weekends a year, Myers said, and would be used for religious retreats. Each dormitory would have a limit of two guests.
Trustee Gail Schechter asked whether the village should consider a parking permit for Babb Avenue residents to park their vehicles, which Mayor Ann Tennes shot down after immediate groans from the audience at the meeting.
“I had actually spoken to a couple of individuals on the block, and what I was told was that they do not want that because it’s an inconvenience to them to get the stickers and more importantly to get the stickers for their guests as is required in permit parking areas,” Tennes said.
While the Village Board rejected the site plans, it remains unclear whether Dharma Drum Mountain can make adjustments to the site plans to get a second vote from the Village Board and possibly receive approval for their project, commented Patrick Deignan, communications and community engagement director for the village.
In early 2024, a developer intending to convert two seven-story residential office buildings into apartments failed to get an approval from the village board on its first reading, but after adjustments were made to it, the board voted to approve the development.
“There could be a wide range of scenarios to work through with the applicant on this proposal,” Deignan emailed Pioneer Press. “The applicant is determining next steps, and has not given the Village an indication of what they would like to do and if they will make any modifications to the project.”