Hinsdale Staffer Disagrees With Official On House

HINSDALE, IL – A couple of months ago, the head of Hinsdale's historic preservation panel refused to allow a vote on the teardown of a historic house.

However, a village employee said last week that John Bohnen, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission, had no such power.

"There is no authority to dismiss a properly filed and complete application without a vote and without the consent of the applicant," the village's planner, Bethany Salmon, said in a memo Friday.

At the meeting, Bohnen said the replacement house as depicted in the application failed to meet the requirements for homes in the Robbins Park Historic District.

However, Salmon said the proposal for 425 E. Eighth St. meets "bulk zoning" regulations.

A commission meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Village Hall, 19 E. Chicago Ave., to resume the hearing on the home's demolition.

The memo appears to side with Clarendon Hills architect Michael Abraham and Julie Laux, owner of Hinsdale's J. Jordan Homes. They are regulars before village committees and involved in the Eighth Street project.

After the commission's Dec. 6 meeting, Abraham and Laux emailed the village about their frustrations with the session, with Laux calling it a "complete fiasco" and Abraham sarcastically labeling it a "Fun Meeting."

Abraham told village officials he needed details to back up Bohnen's assertion that his design did not meet the village code.

Reached Friday, Bohnen declined to comment.

After Abraham left the Dec. 6 meeting, Bohnen told his colleagues, "For Mike Abraham to even think that the house is going to get built in this historic district shows his lack of understanding, so anyway, everybody got to go to school tonight."

At the meeting, Bohnen also had pointed words about local builders, real estate agents and even the village government. He said a "nefarious game" was happening.

Bohnen and others have repeatedly expressed frustration with the continued demolition of historic homes.

The commission's decisions are advisory only. The elected Village Board has the final say.