Battles could be brewing over future uses of land along 75th Street. Some residents are absolutely against anything commercial, while others would be willing to tolerate a little retail. For residents of that area, now is the time to speak up.
City officials were somewhat surprised at the turnout last week for a meeting to discuss the 75th Street Corridor Study. More than three dozen people showed up. The area in question stretches from Palomino Drive to Washington Street, and recommendations about land use will be incorporated into the East Sector Plan Update.
Here's the chance for people to steer discussion about appropriate types of businesses in the neighborhood before specific proposals are made. What do you think of the process, and will you be using this opportunity to voice thoughts or concerns about development--even if you don't live in this particular neighborhood?
The first thing that comes to mind and brings back bad memories is that S.W. corner of Naper Blvd. and 75th St.
Right after the Spring Green Fiasco, Brestal attempted to put thru a propsal for a huge combination shopping center and office complex on that corner.
Thanks to the Napergate Man and the huge effort that was organized for the Spring Green battle 1 block North, it spread to our area and the troops were ready and fought back until Brestal withdrew. If I recall correctly the Napergate Man ran us 1 or 2 full page ads at his expense titled South West Gate and was able to stop Brestal at that time, with the help of course, from all surrounding subdivisions and their leadership.
I am shocked they are coming back. It just seems Brestal was waiting for the Napergate Man to leave town, retire or fade away to shove his zoning injustice down our throats.
But I assure Brestal with or without the Napergate Man, that property on the SW corner of Naper Blvd. and 75th St. will remain residential! Don't test us again, Mr. Brestal! You should know better! Go build a plaza in your own back yard and leave us alone!
The last thing we need to do is turn 75th St. into another Ogden Ave. I think there is more than enough retail options in the area. We don't need a Starbucks and Walgreens on every corner. I think the area should remain residential. Unfortunately the city council doesn't seem to care what the residents think. They only see dollar signs. I've lived in Naperville for over 25 years and am sorry to see some of the poor planning and decisions that have taken place in recent years that have long term negative affects on the city.
Now that the land owner has taken the time and expense to clear the SW corner of 75th and Wehrli we need to do something with it. And like it or not the corner is prime for a SMALL retail development, including a Walgreens, Starbucks and perhaps even a small restaurant/pub.
At a City Council meeting last year, Councilman Rosanova said that he did not support having this 75th Street corridor study to be part of a "master plan" review. He stated that there would be more resident input if there was a separate study. Just wondering, was the Study completed before residents have had comments or is the process just underway and the residents are part of the "Study?"
Seems to me "poor planning" would be to allow prime retail property to be used for housing in which monies would be brought in by property taxes rather than sales taxes by motorists passing through town on a very high traveled road.
If this guy has its way the "small business" shopping center will be anchored by a WALMART!
We had these issues all discussed during and after the Spring Green battle.
We already fought our war with the Napergate Man leading us.
They city agreed to keep it residential.
Why are they backtracking 9 years later?
We have 2 huge shopping centers between Hobson and 75th St on Naper Blvd. that serve our needs and nested perfectly in a strictly commercial area.
We are not against commercial? We already have exactly what we need. Nothing more and nothing less!!
We are happy? We have everything we want.
The shopping centers always have vacancies for anyone who wants to open retail. The huge Hollywood Video store is shuttered and looking for a new tenant.
Why do we have to go North of Hobson and South of 75th St.???
This was discussed over and over again in Napergate Era before the City Council.
Why is it coming back again?
I just can not believe City Hall is starting another Napergate Battle with the residents?
When does all this bulls**t ever end?
I am fed up to the hilt with this mess!
I am continually amazed at the lack of insight and the blinded anger some residents of Naperville seem to have opposing development. If the city of Naperville listened to only the residents who cry the loudest, Naperville would have never become what it is today. Remember one thing folks, EVERY DEVELOPMENT EVER PROPOSED TO THIS CITY HAS MET WITH OPPOSITION - and yet we are the envy of cities and villages across this country.
Within this corridor, having limited commercial development on corner locations at lighted intersections while limiting the use of the interior lots to either transitional or light density uses makes sense and increases tax revenues for our beautiful city. Let's remember, this is 75th Street!! And lets talk about what 75th Street has become and the trend along 75th Street. There are 3 daycare centers/private schools on 75th Street between Naper and Wehrli Road. Peter Pan, Balkwill, and one on the south side of 75th Street. There is a brand new 40,000 sf church being built on the northeast corner of 75th and Wehrli. West of Naper Blvd is a car wash, an animal care business and the former Naper Olympic Club - now being redesigned for an office building and currently the animal care building is for sale with OCI zoning for medical buildings, nursing homes, etc. THIS IS THE TREND!!
So let's be reasonable and talk about what we can do to support needed tax revenues for our city and keep a responsible balance of residential and commercial development while still maintaining the beauty of our city.
EVERY DEVELOPMENT EVER PROPOSED TO THIS CITY HAS MET WITH OPPOSITION -
To make such an untrue statement and say the word EVERY, inidcates you are not a REASONABLE HOMEOWNER but a man or lady with ability to lie and deceive.
Most retail is rubber stamped by Brestal with NO OPPOSITION!
Market Meadows and Fox River currently have vacancies and in the last 27 years never had a year without significant vacancies.
Building up SW GATE with another retail center means we will have a plaza with vacancies that wiil need breaks from the assessors office.
As others have blogged we have not forgotten the lessons of the Napergate ERA. City Hall lost World War I to the homeowners led by the Napergate Man. Now they want World War II to see how we can do without the leadership of the Napergate Man.
I am sure the residents will be ready for the task after a 9 year break...many of us remember the tactics the Napergate guy taught us and we will employ them all over again.
I can understand the residents close to this intersection being upset by a Jiffy Lube or Walgreens or strip mall being developed there, but instead of cutting off a huge revenue producer just so we have pretty houses to look at why not push council to only allow an upscale restaurant or two with landscaped berms to hide it. Take a ride down West Boughton Rd. in Bolingbrook or Rt.53 in Woodridge to get an idea of what creative developments can do to give these commercial areas more appeal. Why pass up the needed revenues??????
On the 75th corridor study, as a long-time resident of the area I look forward to this study. I do not want the area to slip into the endless Ogden Avenue retail and commercial strip, planning is important to the final look and health of the area. However the NIMBY’s that whine that this is the beginning of the end need to step back and take a look at the reality of the issue. Most of these plots are small, disconnected and face one of the busiest traffic corridors in the county. These parcels are of little interest to home owners. Who would want to move their family into a home along that corridor and expose them to the 24/7 pollution, noise and danger of 75th street? I have watched as 75th street went from a two lane asphalt road to what it is today and see it continue grow every year. It would seem that the only rational use for many of the parcels would be commercial/ retail space or professional office locations. Rezoning these parcels for this use will make a much more positive impact on the tax base than zoning them for apartment units, churches or parks. Many thanks to the developer that finally cleared the weeds and scrub trees from the parcel at 75th and Wehrli . That corner has been a eyesore for the last 20 plus years. I look forward to the report from the planning commission on this important issue. I’m not worried that a commercial strip on that corner will be anchored by a WALMART as a previous writer claimed, get real! The parcel is not big enough for the loading dock at a Walmart. As a resident I want the tax revenue and the services some development would provide.
Dearest University Heights Guy and Reasonable Homeowner,
I am willing to guess you guys work for the developer of SWGATE II, at the corner of Wehrli and 75th St. SWGATE I is very well known to be the SW corner of Naper. Blvd and 75th St. just for the record.
The residents spoke loud and clear about their feelings for these lots, especially the latter, being commercialized during the Napergate Era. The feelings were almost unanimous that they remain single family as the Master Plan indicated! What has occurred that you think will change their minds??? Not one thing! This is just an enrichment scheme to change zoning to commercial from single family to benefit the Brestal Law Firm and its developers...nothing less and nothing more! It will not make anything better for the residents, enrich them or decrease their taxes. It will with certainty though, devalue their home values!
Between the corners of Rt. 53 and Naperville Plainfield Road on 75 St. there are no conventional retail commercial centers. Even the gas stations that were on Washington St. were condemned by City Hall to provide for a continuation of the Riverwalk and a beautification of our town. Child Care Centers and Churches unlike Retail Centers fit well in residential areas and blend eloquently with their homey looking appearances.
The huge shopping centers of Market Meadows and Fox Run fit perfectly between 75th St and Hobson. They are really on Naper Blvd. with only one of their back sides facing 75th St while providing a very substantial set back from 75th St. Not one retailer is on 75th St. or faces 75th St. from these 2 enormous plazas.
Traffic is very heavy at the intersections of both Hobson and 75th St where they cross Naper Blvd. Recently residential Hobson Rd had to be widened to accommodate the existing traffic. Since you guys seem to be against a Wal-Mart what do you propose putting there. A 3rd grocery store anchored by similar tenants as the other 2 plazas. This plaza would not generate additional sales tax to the city of Naperville and its residents. The pie will be split 3 ways instead of 2 between the plazas with a net effect of 0 gain on sales tax.
A 3rd smaller residential plaza exists on Bailey Rd. 2 block south and 2 blocks west, less than a quarter mile away, that has a grocery store, liquor store, dry cleaner, dentist, flower shop, restaurant, beauty salon, etc. etc., all of which also exist in the 2 larger plazas. In essence the area is serviced extremely well and there has been little to no growth in the area since the Napergate Era as it is a very mature part of town.
Basically a plaza on the SW corner of Naper Blvd and 75th St would not generate an extra penny in sales tax. Whatever it generates will be off set by losses from the other retailers in the nearby 3 plazas. This is common sense! No one is coming from Woodridge, Bolingbrook or Aurora to the middle of Naperville to shop at a Jewel, Dominick's, and say a Cubs since the same chains already exist in those towns. Gas cost money! Time is money! So people shop in their own residential neighborhood shopping centers. Also, residents of most towns know shopping locally keeps the sales tax in their respective towns.
It has pretty much been established new plazas will generate little to no increase in sales tax at SWGate I or SWGate II! Will they generate some additional real estate tax? They might! But plazas unlike homes can petition the Assessors office for relief due to vacancies. So if they are half full they will only pay half of their respective real estate taxes. If they pull some tenants from the neighboring plazas and creates vacancies those plazas will petition for lower taxes. If identical or similar stores are built in a 4th or 5th plaza within a few block area, some of the existing stores will certainly go out of business due to increased competition or lack of enough business to pay the bills. The older plazas will ask for relief from the assessors office for those vacancies and standard procedure is to grant them.
So your dreams of increased taxes from commercial are due to your lack of knowledge of the commercial real estate market or your deliberate and calculated attempts to deceive the residents.
I live in a beautiful subdivison that exists on the SE corner of Naper and 75th St right between the 2 SWGates. For those who do not know, the name of the subdivision is The Meadows. That subdivision has been thriving and established for over 2 decades. Why would we residents suddenly want to be sandwiched in between 4 shopping centers? Before supporting this commercialization I ask every resident of every subdivision to ask themselves if they would like to be sandwiched between 4 shopping centers. If your answer is no, please support us in our battle with City Hall a second time around. Imagine the decline to the value of our homes! Who in their right mind would want to buy a home in a subdivision surrounded by 4 shopping centers? If we allowed Brestal to do this to a few more subdivisions, would we still be the 2nd best place to live in the USA? That is a fair question for our council members to ponder???
A decent set back for our SE corner The Meadows Subdivision combined with a wooden fence and trees, eliminated all noise from 75th St. traffic. All the homes backing to 75th St are occupied with the exception of one that is for sale due to a recent transferee situation.
The residents of The Meadows including myself demonstrated and rallied in big numbers with the Napergate Man and the Spring Green folks jointly against commercial development at our respective sites which are within 2 blocks of each other. Our population in the area has grown very insignificantly since the Napergate Era so why the need for additional retail suddenly???
Building a nice single family residential development on the SW corner to complement the SE corner is the way to go. Every 3000 s.f. home will generate roughly 10,000 dollars in real estate taxes. They will be all sold and occupied in due time. There will be no musical chair effect as will be with a 4th or 5th unnecessary plaza in our area that will result in a net zero tax gain in both the sales and real estate categories while requiring substantial city services such as police and fire protection.
Building an additional 100 or 200 single family homes on SWGate occupied by 500 or so residents would generate not only 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 dollars in additional real estate taxes, but incremental NEW SALES TAX due to spending by new residents in the already existing plazas in the area. The sales tax increase generated will be real, in contrast to building 2 new plazas, which will be more of a musical chair type of sales tax that has a net effect of 0 after factoring in the substantial decreases of revenue from the pre-existing 3 plazas.
This has been explained to the City Council in chambers. It has been explained in Napergate Ads. It has been explained at our rallies and demonstrations. It has been explained in our leaflets. It has been explained in our homeowners newsletters. It has been explained by activist Donna Rogers. It has been explained by the Napergate Man before the council and thru his ads repeatedly. It has been explained in opinion letters to the Sun and Herald. How much explaining do we have to do? Why do we have to repeat ourselves? Why do we have to go thru this again?
Why is this issue resurfacing now? Yes, Activist Donna Rogers has left the area unfortunately a few years back. I do not know where the Napergate Man is but I heard someone on these blogs mention he moved to Arizona! Does the city think we are suddenly weak because we lost some leadership?
I assure the city council members we will find new leaders. If we have to launch a new Napergate Style War we will. If we have to elect new council members we will.
Regarding Reasonable Homeowners quote of,
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"Remember one thing folks, EVERY DEVELOPMENT EVER PROPOSED TO THIS CITY HAS MET WITH OPPOSITION - and yet we are the envy of cities and villages across this country."
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Has it ever occurred to you that maybe we are the envy of cities and villages across the country because the Napergate Man successfully put the brakes on the Brestal Law Firm before it could ruin our town with overcommercialization in the Napergate Era. The Napergate Man made sure that excessively unnecessary commercialization did not take place on corners such as Spring Green(NW corner of Naper and Hobson) and SW GATE. Partially because of his efforts, we were rated the second most beautiful town in the USA after Ft. Collins, Colorado. If the city council had its way we would be a concrete and asphalt town tied in last place with Detroit or whichever town came in last.
The Napergate Man was competent, intelligent, caring and watching out for the best interest of the residents using his personal wallet. Our city council at the time was on the take from the Brestal Law Firm and other developers. Rubber stamping anything they wanted in return for campaign contributions. They were corrupt! The Napergate Man exposed the corruption and campaign contributions in his numerous well written Napergate ads until they finally succumbed. And we proceeded to our ranking of 2nd Best in America! It was due to the efforts of the Napergate Man, Leader Donna Rogers, Lawyer Rick Strawbridge and other leaders from all the subdivisions in Naperville that we became 2nd best town to live in America. I am certain it was not due to the flip flopping council members who could not identify their heads from their tails!
Now the council wants to return to its old improper and incompetent ways again for reasons unbeknownst to me or anyone else. Maybe Brestal bought them each a membership at a fancy country club? Maybe he promised each member of the city council that he will hire a relative in the next few years? Maybe he promised to build Rosanova a castle somewhere? Who knows what the reasons are our council is attempting to start another Napergate War with the residents?
And for those of you who think your council is intelligent, please check out a recent post by Ameena on the Ponds of Hobson West. She details how the council changed its mind on Spring Green 3 times depending on who could apply more pressure on them: The Brestal Law Firm and it deep pocketed developers or the Napergate Man and his subdivision followers which included a very large number of proud residents from The Meadows. Intelligent people do not flip flop 3 times on the same issue! The only council member who did not flip flop was Mayor Pradel in 4 Spring Green votes! The other 8 were completely incoherent at the time. Who knows what kind of booze Brestal delivers to their homes the night before council meetings?
The Spring Gate/Green battle showed many of us residents from that Napergate Era that the majority of our council members are either brainless, spineless or beholden to special interest groups assuming I am wrong and Brestal did not booze them up before council meetings!
I think it is time to educate the new residents who were not here during the Napergate Era. The residents of the Ponds of Hobson West did not mobilize in time as we did a decade ago under the leadership of those Pembroke Commons extremely organized residents. We need to mobilize again immediately as it appears certain Mr. Brestal is coming yet again with his developers in the very near future. We should never be caught off guard.
Thank You!
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Host,
Since you allowed the Huntington Estates lady to give a plug to her subdivision for their efforts in the Napergate Battles of the 1990s, I would also like to give a commendation to the members of my subdivison, The Meadows. We sent just as many members to the council meetings as Huntington Estates and Pembroke Commons. After SW Gate(I) became an issue we may have sent more.
I agree with the Huntington Estates lady that almost all the leadership came out of Pembroke Commons Subdivision since they jump started this whole battle with the Napergate Man and activist Donna Rogers, but again I strongly believe we participated with as many residents as they did and maybe more. Later we were joined by many other subdivisions. If I knew all their names I would give them all their due credit also. It was really a joint stuggle of so many subdivisions contributing as much as they could at each and every juncture of these long and tiring battles.
Thanks for allowing me to give credit to my subdivision on your blogs! I am proud of what we did in the past and I have no doubt we will do it again and even better now that we are experienced and learned so much from that Napergate Era and its battles!
I am hoping your forum will one day have 22,000 bloggers so it will be as effective as those Napergate ads, but I understand we may be many many years away from reaching numbers like that. Do you think we could ever achieve those numbers and use this forum as the Napergate Man used his ads to pump people up and get them motivated? Again, thanks for allowing me to post and express my views!
I am a strong supporter of reputable business in this desolate portion of 75Th St. I think that a Wallgreens and a Starbucks in that area would be beneficial to this area. Not only for tax revenue but for property valuation.
Meadows resident,
So you would rather build 100-200 additional homes, each with an average of 2.5 children that would bring 250 to 500 more students to an already crowded school district. The City would then need to provide additional services to the new subdivision including fire and police. Then lets add another 100-200 vehicles coming in and out on a regular basis..or..taking the time to get council to approve a well planned commercial development that will add revenue into the general funds, NOT suck it out.
Dazed and Confused,
You apparently are dazed and confused since you did not understand my post. I explained in my earlier post how 2 additional shopping centers nestled between 3 existing ones with vacancies would not show a significant or possibly any incremental increase in sales or real estate tax revenue.
Your comment about the kids and school was a selfish comment.
When you came to Naperville you wanted Napervillians to open their arms and accomodate your children in the school district.
Now you want to shut the immigration door on others because you are being selfish and only thinking of yourself and your children!
We are in District 203 and not 204 where the crowding is serious. Here are that facts regarding student enrollment instead of your rumors. In case you are really that dazed and confused NN and NC are in District 203 and Nequa and WVHS are in District 204.
1.Naperville North 3,065
2.Naperville Central 3,124
3.Neuqua 4,172
4.WVHS 3,600
The schools are relatively the same size. With 85 million proposed for improvements in D203, I am sure NN or NC can accomodate a few extra students if a few more classrooms can be built. They both have enormous undeveloped tracts of land.
I do not want to repeat myself but if you are right and everyone else is wrong, why did the surrounding 12 subdivisions join the Napergate Man against commercialization of these lots in 1999. Why do you think the residents would have changed their minds 9 years later.? The city council finally agreed with the Napergate Man? Unfortunately, some of his endorsed city council candidates such as Mary Ellison and Gary von Boron retired. Rosonava flipped to Brestal because of campaign contributions and his son being employed by the Brestal Firm.
All we have left are 3 pro-Napergate candidates on the council: Douglas Krause, Darlene Senger, and Dick Fursteanu. If DK and DS win the State Elections we only have Dick Furstenau who the council is pressuring to resign thru censure and other measures. The establishment wants to return to the days of monopolistic dominance that existed pre-Napergate!
Bill Brestal smells an easy kill! A fenced in deer if you will! He wants to get this done before the Napergate Man smells the corruption again and begins running his full page Napergate Ads that are notorious for having slates of 4 council members elected in one shot. Combined with DF, the Napergatians would have 5 votes on council, and Brestal would be handicapped again!
This is Brestal's best chance. He is a smart man and is going to take advantage of this unusual opportunity before the Napergate Man resurfaces and begins a second grassroots movement to replace the one that obviously is weaking if collapsing since his retirement!
It all makes so much sense! The residents woke up last time and I believe they will wake up again this time.
PS. Regarding your concern about cars and traffic, shopping centers have many times the amount of traffic as subdivisions. Even Mr. Brestal concedes this point!
Meadows,
Yeah your right..You are the expert. After you get done patting yourself on the back open your front door and listen very carefully. That sound you hear isn't the leaves in the wind, it's all our cash being sucked out of our wallets headed to city hall because of close minded people like you. I guess I didn't realize there is no other open housing in Naperworld EXCEPT in your proposed area. Please forgive me. How selfish of me to deny anyone the opportunity to move into this fine town and join in the long list of whiners complaining of high taxes. Good luck in your personal agenda and please don't worry about the rest of us waiting in the background, checkbooks in hand.
Over the past decade or so Naperville has grown from a "nice bedroom community" of Chicago, to a destination City with national recognition. Our population has grown dramatically and we have been fortunate that the quality of life, while it has definitely changed, has not suffered the same horrible fate as many other fast growing communities.
We live in a great community that is at a cross-roads. We definitely have "something to protect." There are verly frew "easy-answer" sites for new commercial or residential development. Each development should add more than "a revenue source" for our tax base. We can and should demand more. Because, now that we have very nearly reached what city planners refer to as "full build-out" the choices our community makes will become even more difficult. We can't have anything "new" without losing "something" of value.
Local politians do not really seem to grasp this fact. They probably will not recognize the issue until voters and the public organize to bring the issue to their attention. This has happened on a project by project basis with various neighborhood groups galvinizing to defend their backyards... but there does not seem to be any organization that is active on a city-wide basis. The developers operate on a city-wide basis. If opposition does not get organized in the same manner, the developers will control the outcome.
Are there any existing organizations that could take up the issue of "smart growth" on a city-wide basis? I recently looked into the homeowners confederation, but the leadership of that organization seems directly tied to City hall.
Are there any independent organizations that actively support smart, sustainable development and growth? If not, is it time to organize such and effort?
Michele B - Speak with the residents of The Meadows....They aren't real tactful, but they seem to get the attention of Council Members by having them sign away their vote in advance of elections in exchange for aberrational support.
Dazed - Good points...please come pick up my check on your way to deliver yours. As the "Resident" put it (correctly), Commercial will bring in more traffic. So lets just keep that traffic traveling past this area to Bolingbrook and Woodridge so they benefit from the sales tax. What we really need is more residential...especially under the power lines, on a road where the speed exceeds 50mph...and of course, next to the cell towers. Dazed, you just sound uneducated about the pristine nature of this "residential" area. Why don't you and I put up a home in this area? It seems the home under the power lines on Oxford & 75th sold pretty fast...errrr...wait a minute...It's still on the market after two(2) years...Never mind...
Resident - I saw Brestal running naked in this area looking for his next meal because he "smells an easy kill"...that poor fenced in deer...What does Brestal have to do with any of this? Give me some statistics on the vacancies...You make it sound like these areas have no demand...I'm willing to bet the 3 commercial sites you listed have 95%+ occupancy....There is a strong demand. This issue is about the highest & best use, demand and sale tax. Why don't you speak with your City Council Members and have them put in the 87th Street Bridge. That would open up the area south of the meadows to additional services. It was planned, but never executed...
Carrie Nolan - Simple, smart and to the point...Lets "hug-it-out"...
Who typed the Novel? This is a blog...
Napergate Man = Hero? C'mon.....
Why are the people in this area who prevailed over the SWC's of Naper/75th & Wehrli/75th so critical of City Council? I just hope the NIMBY's who are blogging keep up the good work...that's right...go get that bad/evil/on-the-Brestal-take City Council...
Btw....it wasn't pleasant watching Brestal run naked through all of your back yards looking for his next "Kill"....I now need therapy...maybe one of the NIMBY's could give me the name to their therapist...On second thought, it doesn’t seem to be working for you all, so I will deal with the vision of “Naked-Brestal” on my own….thanks for nothing…