Among other volunteer duties, Wesley is on the board of the South East Oak Park Community Organization. We want him to bring that representation to the village board and urge it to open its eyes to the dismal state of Roosevelt Road’s commercial stretch from Austin to Ridgeland. He could combine that effort with his ties at OPEDC and get the village back in the land acquisition and development business along this desolate street.
This week on page one, Stacey Sheridan reports on the legitimate upset of Roosevelt Road neighbors over the unregulated mess taking place at the block-long former Associated Tire — it runs between Lombard and Harvey. Some combination of unlicensed auto repair businesses are using the space and creating late-night noise and traffic issues in this quiet residential neighborhood.
The village is finally on the case, though our preference would have been for the village to have bought this derelict property after the death of its longtime owner. There are other parcels in this awful stretch the village ought also to purchase because clearly the marketplace is not going to be the solution. Time for action.
