Overriding its own Plan Commission, the Mt. Prospect Village Board voted 5-2 this week to amend its comprehensive plan to incorporate the downtown TIF district strategic plan.
The Plan Commission recently voted 4-3 against amending the plan. Village staff said plan commissioners felt that they did not have enough time to review and give input on the document.
Trustee George Clowes, who voted against the amendment at Tuesday’s board meeting, said that based on the minutes of the Plan Commission meeting, more than one commissioner opposed the parking structure, the heights of the buildings and the displacement of existing businesses discussed in the downtown plan.
The comprehensive plan had allowed for buildings up to six stories tall. As amended, the plan now allows structures up to eight stories in height.
Trustee Irvana Wilks, who favored the plan, said, “Downtown redevelopment is the key to the future of this community.”
Wilks voted against the amendment, however, because board members refused to eliminate a specific reference to Northwest Electrical Supply in the downtown strategic plan.
“We shouldn’t single out one business by name,” she said.
The plan mentions that though business is steady at Northwest Electrical, 30 S. Main St., its warehousing and storage facilities are not desirable elements of downtown businesses because they are not pedestrian-friendly.
Tom Reindl, owner of Northwest Electrical, said many other businesses have non-customer areas and areas for inventory.
Also, he said, “You have trucks going 40 m.p.h. down Route 83. That’s not pedestrian-friendly.”
Trustee Timothy Corcoran, voting for the plan, said the board has been talking about downtown redevelopment for nine years, and it was time to “bring people together downtown.”
