Clarendon Hills Backs Off Controversial Plaza Idea

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills officials on Monday backed off a proposal to build a plaza downtown that would have removed a longtime traffic triangle.

They did so after a consultant presented options for improving the village's downtown.

The plaza idea has divided the community. As a result, a bigger crowd was expected at the Village Board's meeting, so it was moved to Christ Lutheran Church.

Village President Eric Tech was missing. A trustee told the public that Tech was unable to get back from another part of the country because of winter storms.

During the meeting, consultant Nik Davis of Chicago-based Houseal Lavigne suggested more greenery at most of the village's five existing downtown plazas.

He also recommended the same for the one block of Prospect Avenue that is considered downtown's core. He said the village should look at doing away with the raised planters, which he considered outdated.

Additionally, Davis said the village should consider working with private property owners on the wide alley between Prospect and Walker avenues.

Now, parking and dumpsters are scattered along the alley's east side. The dumpsters could be consolidated and hidden, while a more efficient design could add parking, Davis said.

Clarendon Hills, he said, could "reprogram the space and get a lot more dedicated parking and better connect to the overall downtown."

Trustees appeared to like those ideas. But the crowd and the trustees focused mostly on the proposed plaza.

For the last couple of years, Tech has pushed to replace the downtown triangle with a plaza, generating a lot of controversy.

It would require doing away with the Sloan Memorial Triangle, which includes a special lane from Prospect to Park Avenue.

Backers say the plaza would make downtown more inviting, while opponents contend it would reduce safety and cause traffic congestion near the railroad tracks.

Consultant Davis presented options for handling the triangle, saying they involved tradeoffs.

A plaza would add gathering space and more angled parking, but would mean no dedicated right turn lane, he said.

He also said the village could eliminate the special lane, but add a traditional right-turn lane.

That prompted plaza opponent Angela Sartori to break in from the audience.

"It forces pedestrians to go across three lanes of traffic, just like Chicago and Norfolk," she said, referring to the controversial elimination of another traffic triangle last year.

Davis also said the village could keep the Sloan Triangle, but increase the landscaping and add a short decorative fence.

But it was one particular idea from Davis that grabbed the trustees' interest – buying temporary barriers known as bollards that could let the village close the special lane or the downtown Prospect block for special events or possibly parts of the summer.

Trustee Mark Peterson said the bollards were a "happy medium."

"We heard quite a bit from residents that there is an affinity to the triangle," he said.

Trustee John Weicher called himself a plaza supporter, saying some of the concerns about it were "overblown." But he said he could also back the bollards idea.

Trustee Ralph DeAngelis, who was presiding over the meeting in Tech's place, said the village had heard from residents who wanted to make better use of existing plazas. He said bollards would offer flexibility.

"I'll keep an open mind," he said.

Davis is expected to present a final downtown plan to the board next month.

The village has yet to release survey data on what the public wants to see downtown. Originally, officials said they would keep the information secret. But they later said they would release the data with redactions.