The private River Forest Tennis Club sits on Lathrop Avenue. It is squarely in the middle of a lovely residential neighborhood. That makes its application to install lights around its 10 tennis courts problematic.
More problematic, though, is the approval process this application is currently moving through. While we take Village Administrator Matt Walsh’s point that village code specifically dictates its Development Review Board is the hearing body for a zoning variance involving parks, recreation and institutions, there is an obvious conflict in play here. Four of the seven members of the DRB are paying members of the tennis club.
They should not be hearing this application. They cannot reasonably vote on the matter. If they were to properly recuse themselves when a vote is likely this Thursday evening, it would leave a small handful of people to make this recommendation to the village board. (And how many members of the village board are tennis club members?)
We get that this is small-town governance where good people wear multiple hats. But this is a substantive matter that involves legitimate quality-of-life issues for the residential neighbors.
A fairer process needs to be found.