Subdivision Residents Fear Crime, Traffic From New Subdivision

GLENVIEW, IL — The Glenview Village Board began a public hearing last week on a plan to annex the former Gibson Farm on an unincorporated piece of land on the border between Northbrook and Glenview and permit a subdivision with 29 single-family homes.

Dozens of residents of the existing subdivisions flanking the 8.6-acre site expressed concerns over safety and traffic if the proposed Parkside of Glenview development includes an extension of Meadowview Drive connecting the Village of Indian Ridge subdivision to its west with the Glenridge Meadows subdivision to its east.

Glenridge Meadows, with 37 homes and a single access point on Landwehr Road, was built in the late 1990s by Edward R. James Companies. Indian Ridge began with a 276-home development on 145 acres built in 1986 by Allstate Development. (Allstate Insurance is headquartered to the immediate west of the subdivisions, across the Tri-State Tollway in unincorporated Northfield Township.

Trusts associated with the family of Roy and Honore Gibson, the late former owners of the farm at 3365 Willow Road, sold the property for $4 million in May to Glenview Chase LLC, an entity controlled by homebuilder Lexington Homes. Mr. Gibson, who died in 2008, was a pilot at the Glenview Naval Air Station. Mrs. Gibson, who died in 2014, was a longtime employee of Glenbrook North High School. They purchased the property in the early 1940s, shortly after it was converted to a farm, and it remained a working farm through the 2018 farming year, according to a member of the Gibson family.

In 2017, the area was identified as a potential site for annexation and rezoning into a single-family development. According to that plan, access from Willow Road would be removed and "primary access to the site shall be on Meadowview Drive," according to a staff report.

Chicago-based Lexington Homes, the property's new owner, has built five other developments in Glenview — Princton Village, Haverford and parts of the Glen — and is currently marketing suburban multi-family residential developments in Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Morton Grove and Oak Park, according to its website. It is seeking to be annexed into the village rather than pursuing development approvals from Cook County officials and remaining unincorporated.

Nate Wynsma, vice president of Lexington Homes, said the company was planning on building at least three models of two-story homes for marketing and "anti-monotony purposes," with the possible addition of a ranch-style plan. Each design would have master bedrooms on the ground floor, with guest rooms upstairs.

"The buyer we are targeting is age-targeted — ‘empty-nester’ typically. The master-down approach really gives a ranch, single-level living lifestyle. The lawn, landscape maintenance, the snow removal maintenance by the association also lends itself to that buyer profile," Wynsma said. Market research, he said, showed buyers want a "limited maintenance lifestyle, single-level living, [and to] still have guest rooms and things on the second level."

Wynsma said the development would have more than enough stormwater retention for even the largest combination of structure, would have fewer school-aged children than its school impact fees provide for and would use an access point from Willow Road to minimize the impact on neighboring subdivisions during construction as much as possible. Once the access is closed, the developer would build a sound wall along the north property line abutting Willow Road, according to village staff.

The Glenview Plan Commission held hearings on the proposal at its meetings on May 28 and June 11, narrowing potential traffic patterns to down two options and finding Lexington Homes' requests to zoning variations were similar to those approved for the adjacent Glenridge Meadows development.

In one option, recommended by village staff, the new subdivision would include a public road, Meadowview Drive, with access on the east and west. According to Thomas Adomshick, president of the civil engineering firm James J. Benes and Associates, the extension of Meadowview Drive was intended at the time both neighboring subdivisions were approved.

The other option — a private gate accessible only to emergency vehicles and owned and maintained by the homeowner's association — was presented in response to opposition from residents to a public road. The plan commission determined such a a gate could be "an acceptable design solution to appease residents," according to a staff memo.

In written correspondence with trustees and village staff and during public comment at the village board's July 18, subdivision residents voiced unanimous opposition to linkage of the new development with the existing network of winding roads and cul-de-sacs.

Sanjida Chowdhury said she emailed a petition containing the signatures of 125 residents of Indian Ridge to the village board.

"We chose this particular subdivision because of the limited access. We feel that that promotes safety from a traffic standpoint and an overall safety standpoint for us and our two, very young children," Chowdhury said.

"One thing with the one outlet that we have currently is that there's limited access for burglars or people who are surveying the area, and I think that is a deterrent from a burglary standpoint."

Glenridge Meadows resident Stephen Scheiber said all 37 homeowners in his subdivision preferred the inclusion of private gate on the west side of the proposed development. He questioned why village officials would be in support of a through street.

"You may want to elaborate why the village is the only one — it seems, in this room — that the trustees want this and nobody else does," Scheiber said. "I also am concerned about the safety issues ... I'm also concerned with the children and the increased crime. Having lived there for 22 years we're seeing increases in home invasion."

Jeff Brady, director of community development, described why staff favored an open road to a private gate with keys for emergency personnel. He said it offered the best chance for the village to have unimpeded response time to police and fire events and to ensure the long-term maintenance of village infrastructure, which is more difficult with only one way in and out of a subdivision.

"It adds significant complication to have a subdivision comprised of so many residences with a single point of access," Brady said. "The amenity that we're describing sounds like an amenity that many residents of the area have grown used to in the 40 years since this subdivision was developed. But in accordance with best planning practices [and] transportation access plans, the prevailing opinion when you have subdivisions of this nature — especially with this many residences — would be to have at least two means of access to that subdivision to provide traffic relief so that all of that concentration of traffic can be spread across two access points."

Brady said the connecting road would allow the developer to build the site to the village's standards and allow the village to maintain the area. The private gate plan would mean snow clearing would be the responsibility of the homeowners' association. In cases of heavy snow or ice, there could be issues with access.

"When we know that we own and maintain infrastructure, we know we can maintain it," Brady explained.

Village President Jim Patterson suggested a private gate forcing residents of the proposed subdivision out the Glenridge Meadows access point to Landwehr Road would create more of a problem than allowing the new residents to come and go farther to the south.

"I believe that Glenview, as a whole, is actually very safe. I believe that most of our streets continue and go through. If you look at every part of the community, they all go through," Patterson said, pointing out either plan was limited to access to Landwehr Road and was unlikely to have a significant impact on the nearly 300 homes in Indian Ridge.

"I'm trying to understand from a planning perspective personally why this is a point of objection. I see it as: it makes a lot of sense. It is continuous," said the village president, who only votes on the board to break ties. "I believe it makes sense and I believe it is in sync with the rest of the community. If you look at this neighborhood, and if you look at that map, it rolls together, it flows, it actually makes sense."

Mary Novotny, of the Indian Ridge subdivision, suggested the private gate plan should be adopted because plan commissioners and residents both agreed it was acceptable. She said other zoning variations requested by the developer should be provided on an as-needed basis rather than upfront, while acknowledging that if trustees rejected the annexation agreement it would not necessarily block the development from being built.

"I really would like to see you annex this into the village of Glenview," Novotny said. "In my opinion, the worst thing that could happen is to have this site developed under Cook County ordinances."

Trustees Michael Jenny and Karim Khoja were not in attendance at the July 18 meeting, leaving only four trustees present. The annexation agreement requires five votes, so no vote on the annexation resolution or planned development authorization ordinance was taken. The village board will continue the hearing at its Aug. 6 meeting.

Earlier: Farm on Willow Road is the Last One in Town