In a recent village newsletter, we heard from Trustee Lisa Gillis regarding the proposed Madison Street development. She twice points out that building a 72-unit structure amid the beautiful older homes is a reflection of “our” village’s long-term goals.
Whose goals are these? The 2019 VRF Comprehensive Plan states:
“The village offers architecturally and historically rich neighborhoods, tree-lined streets, excellent schools, attractive and well-appointed parks … with most of the village’s commercial uses existing along its perimeter corridors.”
The Madison/Ashland corner is supposed to be used for commercial use consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Not only is this proposed building completely out of sync with the Comprehensive Plan, it is also extremely unattractive, and certainly would never be considered acceptable to an aesthetic architect. I would think that an aesthetic architect would have been consulted in the planning if our elected village representatives truly cared about the beauty of our village.
Trustee Gillis believes walkability is an asset here. It is a vague term. In reality, does it matter where a person chooses to walk, bank, and eat? Numbers are one thing, reality is another in this case.
This goes for transportation as well. This proposed apartment complex would be quite a walking distance from the Metra. Give some thought as to the traffic and noise pollution as well, Trustree Gillis, and take a realistic look at the whole picture. It’s not pretty.
Jayne Gould
River Forest