A decision by Du Page County officials on a request by the Cantigny Foundation for a zoning variation to convert a $475,000 home in unincorporated Winfield Township for office use is not expected until August, although petitions opposing the proposal were filed last month.
The petitions, signed by about 85 residents who live near Shaffner and Mack Roads, where the estate-type home is located, were filed June 28 with the county Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Cantigny case is scheduled to be on the board`s agenda at its July 11 meeting, but consideration of the variation request is expected to be deferred until Aug. 8.
The zoning variation opposed by the citizens group also would require the approval of the full County Board, as well as its Development Committee, if it is recommended by the zoning board.
The Cantigny Foundation is a charitable arm of the McCormick Trusts and Foundations, and operates the former estate of the late Tribune publisher and editor Robert R. McCormick. The foundation has a conditional sales contract to buy the home, at the northwest corner of Shaffner and Mack Roads, adjacent to the 500-acre Cantigny estate, and to lease it as office space to the Chicago District Golf Association.
The property is directly east of another home and lot that the foundation acquired recently to provide it with direct access to a 20-acre sod and tree farm it owns on the south side of Mack Road.
Residents of the wooded area immediately east and north of the home and some residents who live south of the entrance to the Cantigny golf course, on Mack Road, joined in filing the objection to the zoning variation.
They contend that any further incursion into their residential area by Cantigny could open the neighborhood to commercialization by the foundation and other groups.
But Peter G. Vogentanz, vice president of operations for Cantigny, said use of the home by the small golf association staff would be unobtrusive and in no way change the character of either the home or the area.
”I understand their problem, but I don`t see the relevance,” he said. The nature of the golf association`s operation would not involve public visitors and includes about seven employees, a majority of whom would be out of the office most of the time, he said.
According to Richard Felice, a Wheaton attorney who lives in the area and who helped prepare the objection, the Cantigny request doesn`t meet the
”hardship” test established for variations, since there is an abundance of existing office space in the area.
Documents filed by the residents, who call themselves the Cantigny Neighbors, indicates that the home the foundation wants to use for offices is owned by an Oak Brook man who listed it for sale for $475,000.
The purchase of the home by Cantigny is contingent on approval of the zoning variation, Vogentanz said.
