Allstate land redevelopment moves forward Neighbors raise concerns

It was standing room only in the boardroom at the Glenview Village Board of Trustees meeting on July 5 for most of the nearly four hour meeting. At issue was the redevelopment of the former Allstate property recently greenlighted to annex into Glenview.

Village trustees unanimously approved an annexation agreement with Allstate Corporation and Dermody Properties to annex 290 acres into Glenview.

The lobby of Village Hall accommodated attendees with seating for those not wishing to stand in the boardroom. They could watch the meeting livestreamed in the lobby. If they signed speaker cards to comment on record at the public hearing, Glenview Village President Michael Jenny would call out names, waiting for registrants to come from the lobby into the boardroom for their turn at the podium.

Concerns raised by speakers ranged from potential noise pollution, adverse environmental impact plus project density and employee traffic.

Several Glenview and Northbrook residents living near the site fear a revolving influx of heavy trucks to numerous docks at all hours into a potential warehouse distribution situation along Sanders Road.

Jenny asked the public hearing audience several times to not applaud until the end of comments.

"I promise we can do this respectfully," Jenny said.

Several audience members complained trustees and presenters weren't speaking loudly enough.

"Eat the microphone," one woman called out.

The public hearing was about the proposed annexation and development agreement with the Village of Glenview, Allstate Insurance Company and developer Dermody Properties of Reno, Nevada.

Glenview trustees on June 21 concurred with the City of Prospect Heights to proceed with the annexation of Allstate Insurance Company headquarters property to Glenview, approving an amendment to a 1997 Milwaukee-Sanders Corridor agreement in a revenue sharing arrangement with Prospect Heights.

On July 5, the Glenview trustees approved the annexation resolution and took first steps in a set of ordinances to move the project ahead.

At the June 21 meeting, Glenview resident Gerald Barry indicated Glenview was moving too quickly on the project, saying, "The procedures are suspect."

At the July 5 meeting, Barry told the board, "The timing of the meeting, again, the bare legal minimum of notice before putting something on the agenda.

"You know, this isn't chicken feed," Barry said. "This is a big, big project. Why, what the board would want to rush to make a decision on this completely eludes me.' "

Jenny was satisfied with how the project moved, "in the public review process.

"It was well publicized," Jenny said. "Overall, it was well handled."

Trustee Tim Doron said, "I know it's proceeding quickly," but, "It was thoroughly scrubbed."

Glenview village staff showed multimedia slides outlining the tax revenue projections from 2023 to 2040 of $134.5 million to school district recipients such as Glenbrook High Schools District 225 ($41 million plus) and West Northfield School District 31, which serves Glenview, at nearly $53 million in new tax revenue.

"All they seem to care about is the tax dollars, and will it go to Prospect Heights or can we keep it?" said Karen Jump, a resident of Northbrook's Mission Hills on Sanders Road.

Glenview Village Trustee Adam Sidoti said, "Change can be scary.

"I don't believe we're really in a responsible position tonight to reject their proposal in hopes that it will simply go away."

Representatives of the nearby Gertrude B. Nielsen Child Care and Learning Center commented. One suggestion included that a portion of land be donated by the developer to the learning center for educational uses such as outdoor learning.

The donation suggestion was met with laughter and scoffing by some audience members.

It was agreed to keep 3.89 acres near the Gertrude B. Nielsen Child Care and Learning Center zoned as residential to keep that border section less industrial. Viable tree preservation and arbor relocation were also concerns.

Neal Driscoll of Wilmette, partner with Dermody Properties, said he spent time recently meeting with neighbors of organizations and residences located near the project.

"We want to make sure that what we're doing is respectful of their interests," Driscoll said.

"There's always the fear of the unknown with this sort of thing," added Driscoll, who referred to similar projects, "all over the country that operate very smoothly and we build those.

"I don't mean to sound optimistic or overconfident but I'm not at all concerned about the neighbors as having a problem with this once it's done," Driscoll said. "It's going to be fine."

Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.