The old thread on this is closed, but I wanted to mention that I observed a village sign in front of the church, stating that the property will be the subject of an upcoming public meeting. Personally, don't care enough to check the calendar ...

Noticed some houses in the area have added lawn signs just saying NO to artificial turf and lights at West, to accompany those opposing the school. Must be fans of Nancy Reagan!

quote:

Originally posted by GE Fan:
I wonder if the irony of residents wanting all this development downtown but not really wanting any development around them has been lost on anyone else?

I'm curious exactly what development downtown you feel residents desire?

I was unaware of huge public support for:
-the new clinic building;
-either the Mews or the new proposed townhouse project;
-either apartment building on Crescent near Park.

And someone was successful in defeating the proposed development on Main across from Soukup's.

I also am not certain why it would be ironic for people to advocate development in the CBD, as opposed to a residential area. But that's JMO.

Were there any complaints against the Clinic other than parking ingress and egress? Can't imagine there was an increase in traffic with the new building. The old Clinic was an f-ing eyesore.

I don't live over there...but other than traffic on Western, I can't imagine what the fight would have been over.

The opposition to the clinic was about the access to Western....also some of us felt a more traditional-looking building would be better so that the appearance would stand the test of time and not appear "dated" in 15-20 years.

Back to the school question: I don't really see what the problem is. From what I understand, the location is currently zoned for a school- but because they offer preschool, DCFS has to get involved. In order to trigger DCFS to approve the setup, all preschools must go through a special permit process. Is that correct?

Also, I see it as a plus that a preschool is so close to our downtown. Easy to take the kids out to eat, grab new shoes, visit the bakery or other places since they would be just a block or two away.

You forgot Bells & Whistles! Take the kids to Bells & Whistles!!! Did anyone try the fresh squeezed O.J. there? Excellent!!

Here is some background info provided by a group opposed to the project.

There is a link on the opposition site to some outreach info from the school, so you get both sides.

I have some concerns about their website. Does anyone know more information on the subject?

For example, I read:
Extension of the Commercial zone – This entire situation has developed due to a quirk in the Village zoning code. For some reason our zoning code does not allow for the operation of a preschool in a commercial zone. However, if a for profit entity, Kindercare, Tutor Time or Child Time – all wonderful and worthwhile preschool organizations - were applying for this special use permit as they would need to in order to operate in a residential zone, we believe this would be an entirely different conversation.
---

I believe that it is not a "quirk" in the Village Code, but rather a State requirement that forces any preschool to open anywhere.

Also, I am thoroughly confused by the above statement. I don't understand why they would input a sentence about the other preschools, saying it would be a different conversation, but goes no further. Are they saying they are fine with a preschool, just not this one?

Anyone?

Also, unders Safety: The lack of a double drop off lane and the nature of preschool drop offs (side conversations, unexpected tears, forgotten items, etc.) will result in blocked driveways and cars darting out of the alley, side streets and Park Ave.

I went to the other site and noticed that there are 3 or 4 designated "pull over" parking spots so that if someone did have to stop, they had a place to pull over.

Is that the answer or am I missing something else?

So, if Kinder Care came in, and they take in children as young as 2, they would not need a special use permit?

I am under the impression that if Montessori excluded their kids 2 & 3 yrs old, then they would not need a special use permit. That it is all tied to age, and not their type of school.

Fan?

So what I am hearing is that should they be denied the special use for the preschool, maybe they could keep the preschool at their existing location and start a private grade school without any approval from the Village?!? Hey, not a bad option considering all the problems with the public schools here.

Gotta appreciate the effort by whoever tied balloons to all of those yard sigs the other day!

What happened at last night's public hearing?

I've enjoyed reading the posts on this subject and have to admit I'm very confused about the backlash. Originally I thought the controversy surrounded Trustee Tim Armstrong, a trustee and plan commission liaison, advocating on behalf of the Montessori School? Now the emphasis is on traffic? What's going to happen when the downtown strategic plan suggests we want more people to come to downtown to shop and eat? What about increased traffic of garbage and delivery trucks to bring said goods in and out of downtown?

There are pros and cons to all developments. In total it seems adding a relatively modest school to our downtown provides a positive contribution to our village, and to the neighborhood which it is proposed. The backlash seems extreme and selfish given the traffic study provided by the School (obviously the study needs to be validated perhaps by the village - or those opposed can present and pay for their own study if they believe the School's study misrepresents the aniticipated projections).

Since there hasn't been any follow up to the meeting (which I did not attent) here's a link about the meeting. There are some interesting comments from outsiders posted on Daily Herald (sometimes it's good to see what others outside our community are saying about us!?!).

http://glenellynlife.com/index.php?q=node/135

Here's a link to the Montessori pages in case any of you are interested in what they have to say:

http://move.diamanteschool.org/

There's some reaction to the Daily Herald article too about the crime on Roosevelt Road. I will post a separate topic to see what you all think about that - or feel free to comment on GlenEllynLife.com directly when the latest news is posted.

http://glenellynlife.com/index.php?q=node/136

This message has been edited. Last edited by: GlenEllynLife,

quote:

Originally posted by erpelumin:
In total it seems adding a relatively modest school to our downtown provides a positive contribution to our village, and to the neighborhood which it is proposed.

A couple of minor nitpicks:
-In this instance, isn't the issue the relocation of an existing school, rather than "adding" a school?
-Do you live near the proposed school? If not, are you in a better position to assess what would be a positive contribution to the neighborhood than folks who live there? If the yard signs are to be believed, a good portion of them do not consider this proposal a positive contribution.

Noticed some more yard sign humor recently. One house on Park has a sign saying NO - SAVE OUR NEIGHBORHOOD regarding the proposed school, right next to a sign saying YES 2 TURF AND LIGHTS. I guess some neighborhoods are more worth saving than others, huh?

IT


IS


FOR


THE


CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!

I heard that this meeting was the single most entertaining place to be last night. I am in no way making light of the people in the neighborhood that are "affected" by the Montessori punks...but some of those arguments are killer. Killer.

Anyone there last night?

Details?????

Fan was there, what happened?

Soooooooooooooo......what happened?

Rumor has it one of the, uh, neighbors from the area was taking photographs of each of the commissioners. WTF is that all about...other than general oddness?