Citing ongoing questions about traffic congestion, the Skokie Plan Commission voted Thursday night to delay consideration of a proposal that would bring an additional movie theater complex and new restaurants to the Old Orchard Shopping Center.
Commissioners disagreed with the developer’s presentation that traffic in the area would not be negatively affected by the proposed additions to the commercial center at Golf Road and Skokie Boulevard.
At the regular commission meeting Thursday, Chairman Morton Paradise told the developer and fellow commissioners he could not support the proposal until further traffic studies are conducted and presented to the commission.
“I believe the prediction that a 1,700-seat theater plus a 12,000-square-foot restaurant are going to have a small impact is inaccurate,” Paradise said. “I believe the impact is going to be much greater than anyone anticipates.”
Michael Laing, vice president of Urban Retail Properties Co., the developer hoping to add the theater and more shopping space to the center, told the commission that two new restaurants and a seven-screen theater would not have a major impact on traffic.
Commissioner Lawrence Stasica said the developer’s plan needs more study, as he joined other commissioners in voting to consider the plan at the commission’s April 16 meeting.
But, Stasica said, he doesn’t believe there is enough time left before that date for the village and the developer to come up with a final plan to solve traffic problems the proposed project would bring to Skokie.
“Traffic around Old Orchard is a danger and a nuisance,” Stasica said.
