La Grange officials took a step toward potentially easing the village’s parking crunch after purchasing several properties near FNCB Bank and Trust, 620 W. Burlington Ave.
The three properties, 710-712 Burlington, 20-22 S. Stone Ave, and 15 S. Brainard Ave., will cost the Village $915,160, be paid for from funds in the Parking Fund, and likely be used as public parking, officials said.
“Approval of the proposed purchase agreement will advance several village goals,” Trustee Lou Gale said in introducing the ordinance, “including increasing parking inventory in the West End, particularly for area employees.”
Last year, FNBC expanded its parking on the 600 block of Burlington, and decided the business no longer needed off-site parking in the 700 block of Burlington that was formerly used for bank customers and employees.
With the village already owning property adjacent to FNBC, bank representatives inquired if the village would be interested in buying the properties.
Closing on the deal is scheduled for this month. Regular users of the lots can continue using them until June 1.
“It seemed like a very good idea … to figure out how to make the best decisions regarding this very unusual piece of land,” Trustee Beth Augustine said before the vote.
Charity Jones, La Grange’s deputy village manager and community development director, called the village’s existing property in the area a “flag lot.”
“It has a very narrow piece of access off Brainard Avenue and then extends to a larger area mid-block, so it’s very challenging from a site design standpoint to use it for anything.” she said. “In addition there are some other users on the block that are infringing on the village’s parcel that we currently own.”
The purchase of the adjacent lots offers an opportunity for the village to potentially “redesign and make better use of an asset that we’re not currently using.” Jones said.
After the vote, village President Kuchler said the purchase made sense.
“It’s adjacent to property that we already own and provides opportunity for future development,” he said.
The board also took an initial look at the village’s fiscal year 2026-2027 Capital Improvement Plan budget, which will be the subject of a public meeting at 8 a.m. March 7. The March 23 Village Board meeting will include a public hearing on the budget, which is scheduled for approval at the April 13 board meeting.
The next La Grange Village Board meeting will be 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 9, at the La Grange Village Hall, 53 S. La Grange Rd.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
