Controversial Darien Sign Gets Go-Ahead

DARIEN, IL — Some Darien residents are opposed to a digital sign at the city's main intersection, saying it would serve as an accident-causing distraction. Nonetheless, the City Council this week chose one of the three options for the sign. The sign would serve as a welcome into the community and provide residents with vital information, officials say.

The 12-foot-high monument-type sign will be at the northwest corner of Cass Avenue and Plainfield Road. The owner of the land in question is John Manos, president of Bloomingdale-based Jemco & Associates. He is also the owner of Brookhaven Plaza, which is at the same corner. He proposed the idea for the sign during the recent process in which the city allowed him to construct a building to house Dunkin' Donuts and a pizzeria near the proposed sign.

To make the sign a reality, the city needs to approve exemptions to the zoning code to allow it. As part of that process, the city has requested an easement, so it can post its messages on the sign. At any one time, the city's message would be one of eight rotating advertisements.

The agreement for the sign would last 25 years, they said. No taxpayer money is going toward its construction or maintenance.

Darien resident Ron Price was one of the residents who expressed concerns about the safety of an electronic sign at the intersection. He said he lives 150 feet away and has witnessed several crashes there. Research, he said, shows accidents can increase by as much as 30 percent with a digital sign.

"Is this something we need in our community at this particular location?" he said.

Another resident, Matthew Stafford, said the intersection has been a longtime eyesore and that he would be glad to see something there. But he lamented the city would only have its messages on the sign one-eighth of the time.

"It seems crazy to have a 25-year commitment for a sign that's going to give someone a one in eight shot of finding out something we want them to see as a village," Stafford said.

He said some of the ads may be for businesses outside of town, doing nothing to benefit the local sales tax base.

During the City Council's discussion, Ward 3 Alderman Joseph Kenny said many Darien residents may not even see the messages, adding residents on the west side hardly use the intersection.

Mayor Joseph Marchese rejected that argument.

"If one person sees that sign (in the future) and doesn't get the message now, that's one more person. We try social media. We have a newsletter, and we still have people who don't get the message," he said. "If you make one person better in the city of Darien, you make the city of Darien better."

Kenny shot back, "If I make one person safe and they don't get into an accident, then I've done my job, so there you go."

The council voted 5-2 for one of the three options. Its choice was one sign with landscaping and a water feature, with a base for another possible sign in the future.

The dissenters were Kenny and Ward 4 Alderman Tom Chlystek, who said he supported the option with just one sign and no possibility of a second one.

The council still must vote on an ordinance with zoning exemptions to allow the sign.