Keep Elmhurst Neighborhood's Open Space: Residents

ELMHURST, IL – Residents in an east Elmhurst neighborhood are continuing to push the city to keep open space in their neighborhood.

They are referring to undeveloped land at the end of Second Street and Elmhurst Avenue.

In 1975, the city entered into an agreement with Elmhurst Hospital to keep the land as a buffer with the hospital's old complex on Berteau Avenue.

A dozen years ago, the hospital moved to a much larger campus in the southwest part of the city.

The 50-year covenant to keep the land as open space ends in April 2025.

The city has been looking at which of its properties it should sell.

According to a city memo earlier this year, the highest and best use for the open space in question is single-family homes. The land is big enough for up to a dozen buildable sites, the city said.

Neighbors say they want to keep the open space at the end of Second Street and Elmhurst Avenue. (David Giuliani/Patch)

At a City Council committee meeting in January, the city recommended that neighbors approach the Elmhurst Park District to see if it wanted the land.

In a January letter to the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition, Jim Rogers, the park district's executive director, said his agency's priority is to find space for parks in the city's "park deserts."

The neighborhood in question is not such a desert, he said, given that East End Park is four blocks away.

"Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor the City's discussions about the future of the property and would, of course, be open to considering some type of intergovernmental agreement if the opportunity were to present itself," Rogers said.

On Monday, a few neighbors spoke during the council's Development, Planning and Zoning Committee meeting. They pleaded with the city not to sell the land to a developer.

Resident Michele Platt said neighbors found no clarity in the discussions between the city and the park district.

"We can only assume there has been no follow-up from the city," she said.

Another neighbor, Alec Wollensak, said he has used the open space since he was a child. He said it is used as a safe passage for children to walk to Field Elementary School.

He said he goes to the open space every day. Such spaces, he said, build a sense of community.

"It increases our quality of life," he said. "Green space is proven to improve the mental and physical health of residents. I know this is a sore subject, but it also mitigates flooding."

The committee did not respond to the residents' comments.

At the January meeting, Alderwoman Noel Talluto noted the city faced a funding gap of $13 million for stormwater projects that the city had already completed.

Selling city land, she said, could take a bite out of that shortfall, reducing residents' tax burden.