Wait a minute. That piece was not a "Spielberg" by any stretch. Could have just as easily been a misguided attempt by the "good neighbors" to curry favor.

It spoke to me. I found it haunting. No clue how Fan's big, black truck was edited out.

I heard from the director and cinematographer that it was filmed with one of these babies:

quote:

Originally posted by Rhett:


I see lots of **speculation and assumptions** on this site ("this will dramatically increase traffic..."); but no research, no evidence, no facts. Has anyone asked the school how many cars enter/exit each day? Has anyone asked the school specifically about their plans to expand or not? Well, no, because nobody has asked the school anything.

I DARE ANYONE opposing the school's plans to contact the school, ask your questions, and post the results here. I dare you. Prove you're a "good neighbor."

And knock off the hyperbole. You're only hurting the community you profess to love and want to "preserve."

Post of the year.

That YouTube video has one major glitch. Jeff Tweedy's kids are in Montessori schools. He does a fundraising concert for them. This year's was about 6 weeks ago. I don't think he'd appreciate these folks posting their video on YouTube with his song playing in the background.

quote:

Originally posted by glellyn:

quote:

Originally posted by Rhett:


I see lots of **speculation and assumptions** on this site ("this will dramatically increase traffic..."); but no research, no evidence, no facts. Has anyone asked the school how many cars enter/exit each day? Has anyone asked the school specifically about their plans to expand or not? Well, no, because nobody has asked the school anything.

I DARE ANYONE opposing the school's plans to contact the school, ask your questions, and post the results here. I dare you. Prove you're a "good neighbor."

And knock off the hyperbole. You're only hurting the community you profess to love and want to "preserve."

Post of the year.

That YouTube video has one major glitch. Jeff Tweedy's kids are in Montessori schools. He does a fundraising concert for them. This year's was about 6 weeks ago. I don't think he'd appreciate these folks posting their video on YouTube with his song playing in the background.

Hilarious!

quote:

Originally posted by Rhett:
I read this whole message board. All 7 pages and several hundred posts. About the only thing I could NOT find, anywhere, was this:

"I contacted the Diamante School staff and asked them to discuss [whatever my concern is]... and they said..."

Good Neighbors? Right.

What a great community we are, if so many people can get so emotional and spend so much time **speculating** about this, but nobody has actually gone to the source to get any facts.

In FACT, I called the school. Asked how many "good neighbors" had contacted the staff/owners to ask any questions. Answer? ZERO.

I asked if the school had reached out to the neighbors to discuss things and hear their concerns. Yes, several times. Result? The neighbors did agree to meet, but the only subject the would discuss was to convince Diamante to buy a different property (NIMBY). They **refused to discuss** any terms or ideas that would allow the school to exist at Park/Hillside in harmony with the neighbors.

I see lots of **speculation and assumptions** on this site ("this will dramatically increase traffic..."); but no research, no evidence, no facts. Has anyone asked the school how many cars enter/exit each day? Has anyone asked the school specifically about their plans to expand or not? Well, no, because nobody has asked the school anything.

I DARE ANYONE opposing the school's plans to contact the school, ask your questions, and post the results here. I dare you. Prove you're a "good neighbor."

And knock off the hyperbole. You're only hurting the community you profess to love and want to "preserve."

I would be careful to assume that just because someone says "residents did not call the school with concerns" that they did not voice concerns directly to the Repkings in some of the meetings they said they had, or, that they did not voice concerns at length at the public Plan Commission hearing on the pre-application on January 10th which was attended by the Repkings. There seems to be some disconnect here in what qualifies as the proper voicing of concerns, not the actual voicing of concerns. Let's not get stuck on defining how a concern is voiced but rather the substance of that concern and whether or not it may have been voiced in an appropriate way, just not the way someone wants to define it. Let's not get mixed impressions over the terminology.

Also, while the website you refer to here with this quote claims to be putting out facts, it seems more like they are putting out their opinion or interpretation of whether the proposed school plan was adequately disclosed initially to achieve a positive level of trust with the residents it would impact most.

Rather than debate this and make it subject to emotional interpretation by both "sides", why not just put out a true set of facts -

1)when did the property come to the attention of the school?
2)when was the initial plan drafted?
3)when was an offer made to the seller?
4)when was the offer accepted?
5)when was the contract signed to purchase the property?
6)when was the village planning department notified that a pre-application hearing was going to be requested?
7)when was the pre-application petition filed?
8)make a list: what residents were contacted, when was each contacted, how were they contacted, what was the result: meeting in person, via phone, emails/letters exchanged - what was the information given and what was the feedback received in each case?

THIS is all truly factual information that the Repkings have. Put the real timeline out there in black and white. Present it and let the people decide based on the true facts, not just the school's opinion of what was done as being sufficient, and, their measure of no calls to the school as proof of the residents' lack of communication.

Also, it would seem to me (not a fact, just "seem") that if you are going into a new area and want to establish yourself as part of the community and flourish there, there is some responsibility to reach out in advance of your initiatives, if you truly want to develop the relationships you say you desire, and, if you truly are open to discussing your plans and you think the plans are not going to be ill-suited to the site. Just an opinion.

Why would someone tip their hat about a proposed business initiative before getting into bidding for a piece of property? That would seem like a dumb idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Iceburg:
if you are going into a new area and want to establish yourself as part of the community and flourish there . . .

A new area? That's a bit of a stretch. They want to move three blocks away from their current space. I would argue that they already are a part of "the community".

quote:

Originally posted by Clamato:
Why would someone tip their hat about a proposed business initiative before getting into bidding for a piece of property? That would seem like a dumb idea.

That's not the point though - how much time was there AFTER the contract offer was accepted to then approach the residents and ask - "we are developing a plan to bring our school here, as part of the process we would like to learn more about the site and your concerns".

No tipping the hat problem with that approach at all, the property would already be under contract.

From the looks of this - it gives an appearance the Plan Commission's opinion was more important than the opinions of the residents that it would most affect.

quote:

Originally posted by Iceburg:
From the looks of this - it gives an appearance the Plan Commission's opinion was more important than the opinions of the residents that it would most affect.

What does that mean? Were you at the meeting? What did the Plan Commission say?

quote:

Originally posted by Mamattorney:

quote:

Originally posted by Iceburg:
if you are going into a new area and want to establish yourself as part of the community and flourish there . . .

A new area? That's a bit of a stretch. They want to move three blocks away from their current space. I would argue that they already are a part of "the community".

Rather than argue it after the fact, why not just ask going in?

And if you did feel you were being fair and open in soliciting input and building relationships, why not just put it out there what you proactively did do and when did you do it?

Putting it on the Plan Commmission agenda, then sitting back and expecting residents to call the school (assuming they even saw the agenda, knew about the meeting, or were able to obtain the pre-application with your plan in it from the village) does not seem to be in the spirit of reaching out. Nor does it ensure that those it will impact will even learn about your project in a timely and welcome way.

Don't misunderstand my question. My stance on this subject is rock solid in the middle. Regardless of how the deal turns out, my life will stay the same. That being said...I tend to side with those that are against something rather than for it. Sort of the will of the masses over the desires of a few thing.

I just found that video to be over the top. I will also note that I do not find the school in violation of any of the guidelines posted earlier. If we could channel all of your energy into helping heightster get his/her own High School in Glendale Heights, we'd rid ourselves of all those GH punks infiltrating our leafy suburb and make him/her happy at the same time. Not sure what this has to do with your cause, but I am currently battling with a GH resident on another site.

I've seen that Plan Commission in action before and I thought that there were/are several steps in the process to give the neighbors and the community ample time to learn about the project, declare their opinions and work with a petitioner.

1. First, isn't there a pre-application meeting. Here, the petitioner talks informally about his/her plan and presents it to the Commission and the public. Here, the public can talk about it and express their concerns. The Commission just generally states their thoughts on the project I thought.

After that, the petitioner files all sorts of stuff with the village and works with planning and development to tweak the plan

THEN

2. The village sends out notice of a public hearing. At the public hearing, the community can again talk to the commission and express its concerns. The Commission then makes a recommendation to the board.

AND THEN

3. The Village Board vets the project

AND THEN, AND ONLY AFTER ALLOWING THE CITIZENS A VOICE AGAIN

4. Votes to approve or deny.

It is my understanding that this plan is only on stage #1. Seems to be a lot of time left to work with the purchaser. Unfortunately, I fear that a line may have been drawn in the sand a little too early for anyone's benefit.

quote:

Originally posted by Mamattorney:
They want to move three blocks away from their current space. I would argue that they already are a part of "the community".

quote:

Originally posted by GE Fan:
It is my understanding that this plan is only on stage #1. Seems to be a lot of time left to work with the purchaser. Unfortunately, I fear that a line may have been drawn in the sand a little too early for anyone's benefit.

Details....details.....

quote:

Originally posted by Mamattorney:
They want to move three blocks away from their current space. I would argue that they already are a part of "the community".

Part of the community, yes...just not part of the traffic pattern. I believe that is the gist of the issue.

At the Planning Commission pre-application hearing (I was there), essentially the commissioners asked for two things:
1. Get a traffic study
2. The two sides should get together and talk about their differences, and try to reach some compromise, rather than having it out in public hearings.

Regarding each, the school has apparently done:
1. Got a traffic study.
2. Asked the "good neighbors" to meet. Neighbors' response was, paraphrased, "We will only meet to talk about you NOT buying the property, but will not discuss how to live with a school next door."

How do "good neighbors" work out their differences? By working together in person? Or by talking "at" each other in front of a commission hearing?

--

Iceburg, you asked for someone to "why not just put out a true set of facts" -- and you listed a bunch of historical questions about how the school arrived at a contract to buy the property. I can understand your point, but I regard it as a purely emotional/reactionary/tactical approach to the situation, and one that does not help resolve anything. The Repkings are going to buy the property (tomorrow?), and then all of your questions will be moot. Rather, wouldn't it be more productive to ask,
- Is there really an effect on traffic, or is this just anticipated/imagined?
- Will this really affect neighboring property values? Based on what rationale, or evidence? Has anyone asked for a survey of independent realtors? (I for one would be thrilled to have a high-quality school within walking distance of my home!)
- Will this site be safe for the kids attending, and/or would it decrease safety for the neighbors in some way? Besides conjecture, is there any reasoned approach to determine this?
- Is there anything the community can do to support the church congregation in this time of difficulty for them? (Since the neighbors seem to care so much for them, suddenly.)

Or... you could just go on hyperventilating. That'll be good for Glen Ellyn, right?

I hope nobody looking to relocate here is reading this board.

quote:

Originally posted by GE Fan:
3. The Village Board vets the project

You may be premature to assume this project is a dog.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Diamante Montessori can go ahead and change the address on their letterhead for next school year or whenever they believe the transition will take place.

Just my humble opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by Mamattorney:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Diamante Montessori can go ahead and change the address on their letterhead for next school year or whenever they believe the transition will take place.

Just my humble opinion.

Why do you say that?

Uh oh, I see an attorney fight at the corner of Park and Hillside.....

Smart money is on Fan......Although, Fish won the last one....C'mon Fan, redeem yourself...

No, no fight. I don't fight anymore. GE Fan is now older and more laid back. I'm just curious about what leads one to these conclusions when there's been no facts elicited. I was at the Plan Commission meeting. I don't think that any of the commissioners had made up their minds one way or another.

Plus, the Good Neighbors already hired a lawyer to represent them.