A rally supporting a 30-acre development on Winfield’s northwestern edge drew a “disappointing” number of people, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of its organizer.
Tony Reyes, a board member of West Chicago High School District 94, told two dozen listeners the village would suffer “if we don’t stand up and be heard.”
The key issue facing the $85 million development is a zoning change allowing for five-level buildings that might be precedent setting for other areas of the village. Another controversy concerns “R-7 zoning’s” property size and a debate about whether it should apply to 15-acre tracts or possibly parcels as small as 5 acres.
A vote on the newly proposed R-7 zoning is scheduled for Thursday.
Reyes, three Village Board members, and a few others, said Winfield taxpayers should know the loss in tax revenues the village would absorb if the high-rise condominium-townhouse-commercial project is not built as conceived by developer David Russo.
He said the $85 million project will generate an estimated $1.6 million annually for the village’s taxing bodies, including $800,000 to Winfield Elementary School District 34 and $500,000 to High School District 94.
“I’m frankly dumbfounded we don’t have more elected officials here,” he said.
Trustees Rudy Czech and Christine Petitti are both opposed to the development and Village President John Kirschbaum has reservations about the R-7 zoning. None of them attended the meeting but Trustees Tom McClow, Chris Levan and Chris Mackowiak, all supporters, were present..
