Two months after first denying a special-use permit for 200 apartments and 66 town homes near a stretch of road considered dangerous on the city’s far southeast side, the City Council has voted to approve the development after all.
Ald. Chuck Nelson changed his position last week and voted in favor of the plan, giving Mayor David Stover the opportunity to cast his own vote to provide the margin needed for approval.
The action cleared the way for L.P. Properties of Glenview to buy 31 acres at the northwest corner of U.S. Highway 34 and Farnsworth Avenue from the Inland Land Appreciation Fund, which owns the 72-acre site. L.P. Properties plans to construct the development, called Summerset Court, next year.
When the council rejected the proposal in October, it cited its home rule powers and its concern for safety along U.S. 34, where two people died in separate crashes in 1996. Ald. Chris Beykirch, whose ward includes the development, had requested that Inland and L.P. Partners do more to persuade federal and state governments to improve the highway and forgo development until those improvements were made.
After the rejection, both companies lobbied state and federal officials for improvements, as did the city. A majority of aldermen, including Nelson, said it wasn’t fair to hold up the development because of the perceived tardiness of government officials in addressing a safety issue. “We cannot really hold them responsible,” Nelson said. “The responsibility now lies with the state.”
Attorneys for the developers also threatened to “pursue any and all actions against the city” for denying the plan, saying it was in compliance with an annexation agreement approved in December 1996.
Inland has agreed to make improvements along nearby Farnsworth. Developers and city officials also discussed installing a temporary traffic signal, but state planners said the intersection does not yet warrant one.
