La Grange Today

Plan commission gives thumbs up on pawnshop ban

The La Grange Plan Commission tonight voted unanimously to recommend that pawnshops be prohibited from operating in the village's central business districts.

The proposed ban was one of several amendments to the downtown zoning ordinance backed by commissions after hearing testimony from residents and business owners in a lengthy public hearing.

Click here to access audio excerpts of testimony and deliberations from the plan commission's public hearing.

Cause unknown for power lines falling Wednesday, setting fire that destroyed 2 garages and 3 cars

VIDEO: See the damage caused by Wednesday night's fire. Check out the video at the bottom of this post.

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ComEd officials have no immediate explanation for why power lines serving a residential neighborhood in northwest La Grange fell to the ground Wednesday night, sparking a fire that destroyed two garages and three automobiles, according to a company spokeswoman.

No one was injured in the incident in which a transformer atop a utility pole also exploded at the scene, located on the north side of Bell Ave between Edgewood and Malden Aves, La Grange Chief David Fleege said.

Some 1,200 homes in La Grange and Western Springs lost power as a result of the incident, Pam Anton, a media relations manager for ComEd, said Thursday afternoon, at which time she also said that only 18 customers remained without service and they were expected to be back on line by the end of the business day. Most homes had power restored with two hour of the initial outage, Anton said.

But one resident who lives on Dover Ave, Ed Pech, said the homes on his block lost power a second time around 6:30 Thursday evening. He decided to take refuge at Starbucks in downtown La Grange to escape the extreme  heat that smothered the Chicago area for most of the day.

A large but unknown number of homes near the accident scene also lost cable television and internet service.

Kevin Shields, who lives on Drexel Ave three blocks from source of the problem, said his Comcast service was not restored until around 10:00 p.m. Thursday night. But his electric service was never disrupted, he said.

Those residents suffering the greatest loss and discomfort of course were the owners of the two garages where flames from the fire Wednesday night surged above the treetops and formed a wall 50 feet wide, according to one witness.

Fleege said his firefighters, who responded to the alarm at 8:27 p.m., could not tackle the fire until ComEd crews arrived nearly an hour later to cut off power to the downed lines. Instead, they used their hoses to create walls of water to keep the fire from spreading to the houses.

That effort was largely successful. The home at 132 Malden Ave suffered only minor damage as the heat melted its vinyl soffit and cracked two windows. The second home at 131 N Edgewood Ave, whose owners had recently completed a two-story addition, was unscathed. Both garages, however, were completely consumed by the fire.

In staff report, village formally opposes pawnshops

As promised, the La Grange village staff this afternoon issued its report containing proposed amendments to the zoning code regarding permitted and special uses in the C-1 central commercial district, more commonly known as downtown La Grange.

As expected, pawnshops are among the types of business currently permitted in downtown that the village wants now to prohibit. Others include payday loan centers, retail ice dealers and stores selling swimming pools, monuments or used building materials. Firearms and ammunition dealers would no longer be allowed as a special use.

"The Staff thinks pawnshops do not support the character of the Village's core retail district," according to its report, which also sought to distinguish pawnshops from existing stores downtown that sell used merchandise, some on consignment. "The principal focus of a pawnshop is the pawn transaction—that is, a short-term, high-interest loan. The retail component of a pawnshop is relegated to miscellaneous, used personal items that are not redeemed."

The position in the report is an apparent reversal for village officials, who just last month issued a business license to Andy Grayson, of Berwyn, who plans to open a resale jewelry and pawn shop in July in the storefront formerly occupied by Hollywood Video.

Grayson said he submitted his application only after he was assured by Pat Benjamin, the village's director of community development, that his store would be welcome.

Village support for the store appeared to wilt after several business owners and residents vehemently objected to the pawnshop.

Village President Elizaberth Asperger said Monday that a business license was issued because pawnshops were a permitted use, but that officials then instead decided to "accelerate" a long-planned review of permitted uses in the downtown district.

The amendments will be forwarded to the village plan commission, which has a scheduled a public hearing on the proposed changes for Monday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall auditorium. Its recommendations on the amendments will be forwarded to the village board of trustees, which may consider and possibly take action on them at its next regular meeting on July 13.

The report also proposes adding several new permitted and special uses for the downtown district, including photography studios on the first floor, certain exercise facilities, massage therapy services and bowling centers. Selling beer and wine in a retail food store also would be added as a permitted use, making legal some stores that already do so.

Click here to view online the actual staff report.

Related stories:

• No surprise if pawnshops make staff ban list
• Stunned by village's about-face on business blessing, pawnbroker wants chance to make case for shop
• Pawn shop plans face "vigorous fight" from LGBA
• Zoning changes sought in wake of pawn shop plans
• LGBA worried pawn shop would burden police

Related videos:

• Asperger's remarks on the matter at the June 22 village board meeting
• Real estate broker Shawn Temple defends pawnshop in remarks to trustees

Video: Agent defends pawnbroker in rezoning effort

In this video recorded at the June 22 regular meeting of the La Grange board of trustees, Shawn Temple of Belcaster Realty, defends pawnbroker Andy Grayson in the face of a sudden effort by village officials to outlaw pawn shops just days after granting Grayson his business license.

Click here to read a full report on the issue.

Video: Asperger explains move to amend C-1 zoning

In this video recorded at the June 22 regular meeting of the La Grange board of trustees, Village President Elizabeth Asperger explains a sudden effort to amend the zoning laws regulating what types of businesses can operate in downtown La Grange. Officials began the process only after some business owners and residents vehemently objected to a pawn shop that recently received a license from the village.

Click here to read a full report on the issue.

Proposed changes to downtown zoning expected today. No surprise if pawnshops make the ban list

UPDATE 9:14 p.m.: As expected, a village staff report issued this afternoon seeks to prohibit pawnshops and other selected businesses in the downtown district. Click here for more details.

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Businesses that at one time were considered desirable to have in downtown La Grange no longer are, while other businesses that once were viewed as undesirable are now encouraged, Village President Elizabeth Asperger said Monday night in explaining why village officials this afternoon will recommend changes to the types of uses permitted and prohibited under the C-1 zoning ordinance that applies to the central business district.

Asperger cited gas stations as a type of business once welcomed downtown by the village but now prohibited. While she did not give an example of a once undesirable business category that is now embraced by the community, restaurants that offer beer, wine or a cocktail with meals would seem to qualify. Whereas temperance was high on the list of principles espoused by La Grange's founding father, Franklin Dwight Cossitt, today's town boosters proudly promote the downtown as a dining destination, something that only became possible after the village lifted its century-old prohibition on serving alcohol by the glass.

As to the types of businesses that likely will rise in favor or fall from grace when the staff report is released later today, Asperger Monday night cited only one: pawnshops, which now appear to be on a fast track for the ban list.

"The possibility of a pawnshop locating in our central business has caused us to accelerate our review of the permitted uses and special uses in the C-1 district," Asperger said, explaining that an overhaul of the village's commercial zoning ordinances was long overdue.

The reason why village officials are putting the pedal to the metal on C-1 zoning changes right now is that seeing a pawnshop open in downtown is not merely possible. One is scheduled to open next month, right next to Village Hall in the storefront formerly occupied by Hollywood Video.

In fact, All-Star Jewelry & Loan already has its business license. The village issued it last month to Andy Grayson of Berwyn, who for the past several years has managed a pawnshop in North Riverside. Asperger herself signed the license.

A copy of a letter Grayson said he mailed May 2 to Pat Benjamin, the village's director of community development, inquiring about opening his own business in La Grange was explicitly clear. "I am requesting a license for a pawnshop," the letter states.

Asperger Monday night said that since pawnshops were a permitted use when Grayson submitted his application, his license was "issued in a somewhat routine matter."

Pawnshops were not always allowed in downtown La Grange, Asperger said. As recently as the 1970s they were specifically prohibited, but when the commercial zoning code was last overhauled in 1981, the village threw out the old lists of uses that were allowed and those that were not, substituting a new system of categories based on standard industry classifications (SIC), she explained.

One SIC covers resale and consignment shops, which would include pawnshops, Asperger said. Apparently, village officials back in 1981 were ready to prohibit the whole category until the Community Nurses Association warned that doing so would put their used furniture shop out of business, so the whole SIC instead went into the zoning code as a permitted use.

An exception could have been made at that time to specifically prohibit pawnshops, Asperger said. But as there were none, the issue was never raised.

"It pretty much fell through the crack," Asperger said. "It simply was a mistake that was not picked up in the revision to the code at that time." Thus, the village had no choice last month but to issue Grayson a license for his pawnshop.

But when residents attending the Pet Parade May 30 saw signs in the storefront at 71 S La Grange Rd announcing a July opening for All-Star Jewelry & Loan, many of them prayed it was a mistake.

Some downtown business owners, including Michael LaPidus of Roly Poly Sandwiches, described the perceived threat of a pawnshop coming to town in far more apocalyptic terms.

In a widely circulated email to business owners and community leaders, LaPidus, who also is president of the La Grange Business Association (LGBA) wrote that a pawnshop "does not bring the shoppers and consumers we need to fill our stores and restaurants [...] devalues the progress this village and business community has made over the last decade to make La Grange a top 10 downtown in Chicago [...] will in fact have a long term reverberating affect on our property values, both residential and business [and] does not compliment the businesses and restaurants we have in town and will never, no matter how 'upscale' it looks be a business others will look at positively when starting or relocating to La Grange."

LaPidus summoned the email's recipients to a June 11 meeting of the LGBA in order to plan a "vigorous fight" to prevent the pawnshop from opening.

One person LaPidus did not invite to the meeting was Grayson, who later said, "I would have loved to attend." Grayson believes that if his soon-to-be neighbors understood the caliber of pawnshop he intends to open, they would embrace him, not try to run him out of town.

Most visitors to his shop would find themselves in a well-lit, attractive showroom that sells primarily high-end estate jewelry, he said. All pawn activity would occur in a booth behind the showroom out of sight to shoppers.

Asperger said Grayson did receive a formal invitation to attend the June 29 meeting of the village plan commission, which must review any proposed changes to the zoning codes before forwarding its recommendations to the village board for final consideration and possible approval.

"We cannot make any assumptions at this point in time regarding the outcome of the process," Asperger said Monday. But just in case pawnshops end up on ban list, the village attorney, Mark Burkland, has notified Grayson's attorney that any such a change "could be applied" to his business, Asperger said.

"I should note that the issuance of a business license to a proposed tenant does not impact the village's authority to move forward with the review process," she said.

Asperger skipped over any details about how village officials apparently never mentioned to Grayson their plans to overhaul the C-1 zoning until after he received his business license. Perhaps it is because their plans became immediate only after LaPidus and others raised a ruckus.

Grayson said the reason he chose to locate his business in La Grange is that he believed he had the blessing of Village Hall. When he submitted his application, Benjamin "personally came to the counter, shook my hand, looked me in the eyes, told me absolutely that pawnshops were allowed and told me he was excited about my store," Grayson said. Benjamin normally attends village board meetings but was absent Monday night.

With village officials apparently pulling an about-face, Grayson now is concerned that his request for the building permit he needs to construct the interior of his store won't be received as graciously.

That issue was addessed Monday night by Shawn Temple of Belcaster Realty, who said he represents Grayson's landlords, John and Lawrence Brannen. In remarks made to trustees during a portion of the meeting set aside for public comment, Temple said that Grayson expects his building permit to be issued "with the same efficient response he received previously, and looks forward to a long and prosperous relationship in La Grange."

When the staff recommendations are released this afternoon, Grayson is not likely to find a love letter in the document. But the June 29 hearing before the plan commission, where any and everyone is allowed to make a case for or against any of the proposed zoning changes, more likely than not will indicate the true direction in which this affair is headed.

Click here to view a video of Asperger's remarks.

Click here to view a video of Temple's remarks to trustees.

Related stories:

• Stunned by village's about-face on business blessing, pawnbroker wants chance to make case for shop
• Pawnshop plans face "vigorous fight from LGBA
• Zoning changes sought in wake of pawnshop plans
• LGBA worried pawnshop would burden police

Asperger urges residents to contact state reps to express support of efforts to improve 47th St safety

La Grange residents who are seeking ways to contribute to the village's effort to improve safety along 47th St can begin by contacting the two state representatives whose districts include portions of the village, President Elizabeth Asperger said Monday night at a scheduled meeting of the village board of trustees.

Asperger acknowledged the personal involvement of Reps. Michael Zalewski and Jim Durkin in eliciting a swift response from officials at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). They arranged and attended a meeting June 16 between village officials and IDOT Secretary Gary Hannig, where a list of safety modifications for 47th St and other village thoroughfares was discussed, Asperger said.

"Their involvement in this process has made it more effective," Asperger said. "They are working hard on your behalf. Their knowledge that you are aware of that will continue to encourage them to stand by our side and pursue these improvements."

Below are links to the state-maintained web pages for both representatives, along with links to PDFs displaying the boundaries of each of their districts:

• Michael Zalewski (21st Dist.), Contact Info, Map of District
• Jim Durkin (82nd Dist), Contact Info, Map of District

Asperger also invited residents to contact village officials with their ideas and concerns.

"There are no absolutes and your feedback is welcome and important," she said.

Click here to read full coverage of the Cari Lyn Cook accident and its aftermath.

New curb cuts are first step towards 47th St safety

New curb cuts will be made along E 47th St where it intersects with 6th, 7th and 8th Aves as part of an effort by village and state officials to improve pedestrian safety along the heavily traveled thoroughfare, La Grange President Elizabeth Asperger announced Monday night at a regular session of the village board of trustees.

Village public works crews will begin work on the project Wednesday (June 24), Asperger said.

The new mid-block curb cuts should make it safer for pedestrians who choose to cross E 47th St at those three intersections, where the avenues and sidewalks that run north-south are not aligned from side of E 47th St to the other.

In the case of the 8th Ave intersection, where Countryside resident Cari Lyn Cook was struck and killed by a motorist May 19, the sidewalks on either side of E 47th St are offset some 50 feet from each other.

The absence of an aligned curb cut may have been a factor in that accident. Cook was struck as she lifted her daughter's stroller up onto the curb on the south side of 47th St. She apparently had entered the roadway using a sidewalk cub cut on the road's north side, but there was no corresponding curb cut directly across from it.

But while the new curb cuts should make crossing at those intersections somewhat safer, Asperger hopes that pedestrians will avoid using them. Instead, village officials are encouraging pedestrians to cross E 47th St only at 9th Ave, where there is a marked pedestrian crosswalk with signage to alert motorists, or to use the intersection at La Grange Rd, which has full traffic signals.

As a subliminal means of encouraging that behavior, Asperger said the village will not paint crosswalks connecting the new curb cuts at 6th, 7th and 8th Aves. Instead, crosswalks will painted east to west connecting the sidewalks on either side of E 47th St that cross those three avenues.

Asperger hopes the east-west crosswalks will draw pedestrians towards the safer crossing points.

The new curb cuts were among several safety improvements for 47th St and other village roadways proposed by village officials during a meeting June 16 with Gary Hannig, director of the Illinois Department of Transportation. The meeting was arranged by State Reps. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and Michael Zalewski (D-Chicago), who also attended.

Other proposed improvements include:

• Installing flashing yellow beacon lights on both sides of the existing pedestrian crosswalk at the 9th Ave intersection, facing in both directions, that could be activated by a pedestrian pushing a button. Advance warning signage and pavement markings also will be added to alert motorists approaching the crosswalk.
• Installing a second similarly enhanced pedestrian crossing at the intersection of La Grange Rd and 52nd St, and possibly a third along 47th St near Waiola Park.
• Prohibiting right turns on red lights at 47th St and Edgewood Ave when pedestrians are present.
• Reducing the speed limit along 47th St from 35 mph to 25 mph. A similar reduction would apply to La Grange Rd south of 47th St. The speed limit along Ogden Ave also would be reduced to 25 mph, including the bridge portion that crosses over the Indiana Harbor Belt raliroad.

Approval from IDOT for the curb cuts was immediately granted, but the village still is awaiting a green light for the remaining changes, Asperger said. However, she described Hannig as "very responsive" and said that she and Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn left the meeting feeling "very optimistic."

Asperger said the village's goal is to have all safety improvements in place by the beginning of the upcoming school year.

Asperger said traffic enforcement by police throughout the village also would be re-evaluated, possibly resulting in the deployment of additional patrol cars. Several residents attending special village meeting held June 2 expressed concern that traffic policing was lax and grumbled when Police Chief Michael Holub revealed that generally no more than four patrol cars are on the streets at any given time.

Click here to read full coverage of both the accident and the aftermath.

Cooling center opens in response to hot weather

A cooling center for village residents seeking relief from the hot weather has been set up at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital.

Extreme temperatures can be life-threatening to elderly adults and people with certain health issues.

The center is open on a walk-in basis to anyone. Those in need of the service should go directly to the hospital's main emergency room and ask security personnel to be escorted to the center.

The hospital is located at 5101 S Willow Springs Rd. Click here for directions.

Persons requiring emergency assistance should dial 9-1-1

Judge nullifies auction of Gordon Park parcels to ARP

A Cook County circuit court judge today ruled that the Park District of La Grange cannot sell to Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP) 2.82 acres of Gordon Park on which the developer was the sole bidder at a Jan. 8 public auction.

"It was not a public auction as envisioned by the statute," Martin said. "It was a private sale."

Judge Leroy Martin Jr ruled in favor of La Grange resident Orlando Coryell, whose attorneys argued that the auction did not a satisfy state law requiring a level playing field for all potential bidders.

Specifically, the judge said ARP had advantages over any other bidders because of special zoning adopted last year by the village of La Grange that applies to the park parcels and the adjoining former Rich Port YMCA only if ARP is the purchaser. ARP wants to build a major residential and commercial development on the land that would be called La Grange Place.

The judge said a land swap between the village and the park district involving a vacated portion of Shawmut Ave also benefited only ARP because the swap would revert if ARP did not purchase the park land.

The ruling does not affect a Nov. 4 referendum in which district voters authorized the park district to sell the 2.82 acres at a public auction. The park district therefore may make a second attempt to auction the parcels, but only if it is able to work with village officials to provide zoning and a land swap that could be used by any bidder.