Condo Design Rejected By Lake Forest Preservation Commissioners

LAKE FOREST, IL — The Historic Preservation Commission voted Monday to permit the demolition of a Westminster Avenue home but rejected a design for an eight-unit condominium in the portion in the East Lake Forest Historic District.

The commission's vote followed more than four hours of testimony and discussion, with residents expressing deep concerns about the size of the two-story building, its proposed rooftop patio and the precedent that its approval would set.

"The community really has spoken pretty loudly," said Commissioner Jan Gibson. "It isn't just a core group. It's a large group, the largest I've seen. 1,500 people who have signed a petition, that's a pretty big percentage, so I respect that."

The proposed 36-foot-tall, 24,000-square-foot condo building represents the third and final phase of McKinley Road multi-family planned development. The first phase was approved in 2017, with external construction on the second 705 N. McKinley Road building wrapping up earlier this year.

"That is going to be gigantic in this residential community," said Commissioner Elizabeth Sperry. "This is going to be Goliath-like in its proportions."

It would be located on the city-owned former site of the Quinlan Coach House at 361 E. Westminster Ave., which later became a Masonic lodge and the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, as well as a portion of 373 E. Westminster Ave., the to-be-demolished house to its north.

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Developers Todd Altounian and Peter Witmer, who is also the architect, first proposed a three-story building for the site, initially presenting it to the preservation commission in January 2020. That plan was denied by a vote of 7-0.

Altounian and Witmer, via 361 Westminster LLC, were already under contract with the city to purchase the site. According to city staff, they filed an appeal of the commission's decision but opted for a redesign instead.

In October 2020, they purchased the house at 373 E. Westminster Ave. for $1 million. That house, a 1960s spec house that has been found to have no historical significance and significant structural problems, was previously approved for demolition under earlier owners.

The developers plan to build a single-family home on most of the site but use part of the property to allow for the condominium to fit the same amount of units in only two floors. That plan required city officials' permission to allow for the western 38 feet to be consolidated into the development site.

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In April, the City Council voted 5-3, with one abstention, to approve a zoning change and special use permit for the development, overturning a recommendation from the Plan Commission. Alds. Ted Notz, Jim Preschlack, Ara Goshgarian and Eileen Weber voted in favor, with Mayor George Pandaleon casting the decisive fifth vote required for approval.

That vote cleared the way for the plans to return to the Historic Preservation Commission. At a meeting last month, commissioners directed Witmer to refine the design. Changes included the elimination of a front screen porch, 18 windows and a contrasting cornice.

Sperry said the modifications were insufficient to make the design fit in with the neighborhood.

"The changes that are coming back are so minute relative to the major scaling and issues that are going on with this building," Sperry said. "It looks like a factory. It's not compatible with the surrounding structures. Whether it's 33 feet, 36 feet or 41 — with the vegetation that the developer has told us he plans to allow the owners to have — is irrelevant. We have a laundry list of things that are not compatible about this property."

Nearby resident Jeff Torosian is among those attended Mondays meeting. Warning that it would create a precedent if it were to approve the plan, he said the preservation commission is what makes Lake Forest different than other towns.

"It's not just the neighbors that are objecting to this. It's the whole town," Torosian said. "And that's because we know what could happen if this goes through. Scott Street could be all condos with rooftop decks. McKinley all the way down to Woodland, there could be condos with rooftop decks. The parking lot just to the west of Market Square could be a big condo building with rooftop decks peering down over some of the most historic buildings in this town."

Torosian said increased density could even come to Green Bay Road, as it has in the city's neighbor to the south.

"If you look at Highland Park, there are condo buildings all the way up and down Green Bay Road in Highland Park," he said. "There must be a thousand condo units in Highland Park. I will tell you, I still — despite all those condo units — can't remember the last time I went to dinner in Highland Park."

Todd Curry, another East Westminster Avenue neighbor, said he accepted that someone would build a home on the site but described the proposed roof deck as entirely inappropriate for the historic district.

"My 145-year-old home, for which the subdivision is named, the owners would be turning over in their graves to think," Curry said, "that as you drive down my street you will see sunbrullas and grills on this property. ... To have a party deck across from my master bedroom, in my 145-year-old house, how dare you? I'm sorry, but honestly, to have this committee approve sunbrellas and grills on this property should prompt your resignation."

RELATED: McKinley Road Condominium Proposal Returns To Plan Commission

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But Bruce Grieve, chair of the preservation commission, said many of the concerns raised by residents were outside of its purview, as other parts of the city have tied its hands with earlier decisions about how big the building can be, and any house that size is going to look large.

"Ultimately, everybody would like a solution where the footprint's smaller," Grieve said, describing the latest incarnation of Witmer's design is the best one he had seen so far.

"The bottom line is to suggest that we go forward and ask the petitioner, who has rights to make it as big as it is, to voluntarily make it smaller," he said. "I don't quite understand how that works, nor do I see how it fits within our standards."

Preservation commissioners first voted 4-3 to grant a certificate of appropriateness to demolish the house at 373 E. Westminster Road, with Commissioners Sperry, Robin Petit and Jan Gibson opposed. Commissioners later rejected the design for the proposed condominium building via a voice vote.

Ahead of the vote, Commissioner Maureen Grinnell, who described the building as a three-story structure "masquerading" as two stories, agreed that the rooftop area does not work in a historic area. Witmer's design looks clean on paper, she said, but keeping the appearance of the rooftops appealing is more problematic in practice.

"I don't think you can expect an HOA to manage that. It's already out of control [at the McKinley Road condominiums.]" Grinell said.

"I live on an estate property," she said, expressing sympathy with neighbors' concerns. "There's a couple of real honkers nearby, and I have to say, when there's a wedding or a big party, I want to leave. I don't have to experience that, though, every single night, and to think about what some of you are going to be experiencing, or could be experiencing, that concerns me."

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