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Politics & Government

Trustees Grill Developers Over Proposed Walgreens

The new drug store is planned for 95th and Pulaski

The wind chill outside the Evergreen Park Village Hall on Tuesday evening registered -3 degrees, but things got hot in a hurry in Council Chambers once several Village Board members grilled real estate development representatives about plans to build a Walgreens on the southeast corner of 95th and Pulaski.

“I’m glad for the development. I welcome the development. But I have a lot of concerns,” said Trustee Carol Kyle.

Most of those concerns voiced by Kyle and others relate to how the proposed 15,000-square-foot Walgreens (with a pharmacy drive-through) will affect the quality of life for residents of the 9500 block of south Harding.  Nearly a dozen of those residents were in the audience of about 40.

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Specifically, the question before the Board on Tuesday was whether to accept the minutes of the village zoning board meeting of January 8, in which the proposed Walgreens was considered.

Urging the board to move forward with necessary zoning changes was a real estate development team from the Draper and Kramer Company.

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D&K attorney David Shaw said that the current 1.4-acre site, a mix of commercial and residential parcels, is “a bit of a chaotic situation” and “grossly underused.”

He added that his company began talks about the proposed Walgreens with village officials some seven months ago.

Shaw then passed the baton to D&K Vice President David Agosto, who described the nuts and bolts of the proposed Walgreens. He said that all utility needs, as well as new water and sewer lines, would be part of the development---at no cost to Evergreen Park. “We're not requesting anything from the village at this time or any time,” he stated.

Shaw, Agosto and the D&K team are no strangers to pitching local governments on the idea of a new Walgreens. Last year, Downers Grove Patch reported on D&K’s unsuccessful efforts to obtain approval of a proposed Walgreens on 63rd Street in the western suburb.

Agosto addressed a number of points about how the proposed Walgreens will be designed to have a minimal impact on the adjacent residential area.

He stated the current number of vehicle access points on the property, nine, will be reduced to three. Two of those will channel traffic onto 95th Street and Pulaski. A third, an entry on Harding, will have a “No Exit” sign to discourage customers from leaving via Harding.

The “access points” assertion meant little to Trustee Mark Marzullo.

“I don’t care if you have a hundred access points there right now. There’s nothing going on over there,” Marzullo said. “I live over there. I’m a lifetime resident; and I’m telling you, if you build this, and there’s going to be a lot of action. This is a traffic issue, and we’ll need some modifications [of the plan] if I’m going to support this.”

Marzullo was especially concerned about customers driving out of Walgreens at Pulaski and then attempting to cross several lanes of traffic to head south on Pulaski. He stated that such traffic should be channeled north on Pulaski in much the same way that motorists leaving the Kmart-anchored shopping center (across the street in Oak Lawn) are required to head south on Pulaski.

Agosto expressed doubt that Walgreens would go along with such an arrangement, saying they needed “a full access point” both north and south options.

“I don’t think you’ll get any kind of viable tenant (at 95th and Pulaski) unless you have a full access point,” Shaw seconded.

Agosto also attempted to allay traffic concerns by stating that morning and afternoon rush hours are not peak periods of business at a typical Walgreens.

Other concerns were expressed by both trustees and residents in the audience, such as where on the property Walgreens would place its Dumpster, what time of day or night garbage would be picked up, what kind of buffers would be built between the property and the residential area, whether Harding would need to have a cul-de-sac installed to prevent customers from using it as a shortcut, and whether or not the business would be open 24 hours or sell liquor.

“I’m not a fan of it,” said Mayor Jim Sexton, in reference to Walgreens selling liquor. “I can’t tell you how it’s going to turn out, though, because we are not at that point. There is no application [for a business license] yet. But I’ll say this: I have high expectations. We want their Western Springs model or their Wheaton model. I don’t want to stick it to (the people of) Harding Avenue.”

Residents agreed that a new Walgreens should be worthy of the village.

“That corner is a gateway to our community,” stated Diane Rice of the 9500 block of south Harding. “(Whatever is built there) should be an asset to our community and an asset to the residents of Harding.

“Walgreens is a multi-million dollar corporation; so they have the ability to do this right,” she added.

“Multi-billion dollar corporation,” Shaw corrected.

“Exactly,” Rice replied.

While a number of residents have already taken action, including a petition drive, regarding the proposed development, Trustee Mark Phelan suggested that residents living near 95th and Harding formalize their efforts by founding a committee to study the issues and work with village officials, developers and Walgreens to ensure that their needs are met.

Whether that will occur and whether the committee works with developers or against them, as was the case in Downers Grove, remains to be seen.

In the end, trustees voted 6-0 to accept the minutes of the zoning board meeting---with the caveat, Sexton said, that changes recommended by the village and by residents would be inserted into the enabling ordinance that will be drafted and introduced at a later date.

“What’s drawn on here,” Sexton said, gesturing to a map of the proposed Walgreens, “is not the end of the world. There will be modifications. Nothing is final until the ordinance [is drafted and passed].”

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