La Grange Official, Critic Trade Barbs At Meeting On Downtown Architecture

LA GRANGE, IL – The head of a La Grange committee on Thursday said a critic seemed like he was being paid to disrupt, while the critic contended the panel had made itself "worthless."

Kurt Volkman, chairman of the village's Design Review Commission, was speaking to Jonathan Robinson, a frequent speaker at village meetings since last year.

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"What are you trying to get?" Volkman asked. "I get it that you like to disrupt meetings. And you do that for a living anymore, it seems like."

In an email to Patch, Robinson said no one is paying him to attend meetings. He said he is attending the proceedings to hold local government accountable to its codes and procedures.

"It is ironic that Kurt recently seemed to complain about no one from the public attending the design review meetings and is now complaining when members of the public come and participate in the design review meeting," Robinson said.

In response to a Patch inquiry, Volkman said he made his comment because Robinson was spending so much time at village meetings that it resembled a second job. He said he didn't think anyone was paying Robinson.

"I completely understand that public volunteering comes with the potential of disagreements of opinion that can result in name-calling and negative comments directed toward me," Volkman said in an email. "We all can disagree on opinions. That is the beauty of our country."

'Made yourself worthless'

At the meeting, the board was considering the facade proposal for a planned business, My Sushi, at 21-23 La Grange Road.

Robinson alleged the commission was ignoring whether the facade was visually compatible with nearby buildings. He noted that it was a major requirement in design review applications.

"Visual compatibility is the key piece of what the design review is," Robinson said. "When you take it out of the design review, you've made yourself worthless."

"Because if there's no material, if there's no situation, if there's no color, if there is nothing that bothered you between the building next to it and this building, you have made the design worthless," he said.

'We're not Disney'

Volkman, an architect, said continuity was evident up and down the block. But he said the commission's purpose is not to design cookie-cutter buildings.

"We're not Disney," he said. "Modern architecture has a place in every community. We look at historic architecture, which potentially has a place in every community."

Commissioner Lindsay Hanson said continuity and compatibility are subject to interpretation.

"The notion of continuity and compatibility does not eliminate the possibility of creative design," she said.

The commission approved the facade proposal.

In an email to Patch on Friday, Volkman said the village has seen cultural themes expressed in restaurant architecture.

"La Grange has a long history and current examples of other restaurants that have very similar cultural branding in their architecture," Volkman said. "The public comments went to aspects that are not the purview of our Commission, like constructability. We tried to explain that."

'Coded language'

Volkman also said the commission must be careful about how terms such as "character" are used because they can be taken in ways that can be viewed as defamatory.

"They can be used as coded language. The public commenters utilized these terms and presented their disapproval of the design. The public commenters wanted to question me and my opinions," Volkman said. "That is their right."

Robinson, a structural engineer, started attending village meetings last year after a developer proposed a four-story condo building next to Robinson's house, which he and other residents opposed. The village approved the complex, which is now being held up because of Robinson's lawsuit.

During a January meeting of the village's Plan Commission, Volkman, who designs multifamily complexes for a living, called Robinson's proposed regulations for big developments "naive."

Last week, the Plan Commission approved one of the proposed rules, requiring developers to meet with neighbors before a public hearing.