Is the Village of La Grange really insisting that a roadway be built on a long ago vacated portion of Shawmut Ave that runs through Gordon Park, even though much of the development it was intended to serve likely will not be built?
Judge Susan Fox Gillis wants to know.
The Cook County Circuit Court judge, after mediating two hours of settlement talks Friday afternoon between attorneys for the Park District of La Grange and the La Grange Friends of the Park, concluded that the village's position on the proposed roadway likely would make or break ongoing efforts to negotiate an end to a two-year legal battle over the Park District's attempts to sell 2.82 acres of Gordon Park to developer Atlantic Realty Partners (ARP).
"It would be helpful to know if [the village thinks the roadway extension] is a mandatory element to the project." Judge Gillis said.
Attorneys for the Park District said the road extension would provide direct access from La Grange Rd to the facility improvements the district hopes to make in Gordon Park, and would give fire and emergency vehicles an alternative to the park's existing entrance on Ogden Ave.But they told the judge control of the vacated roadway, roughly three-quarters of an acre, was transferred to the village earlier this year when the Park District swapped it for a village-owned parking lot of similar size, located on Locust Ave, adjacent to the park.
Village officials have communicated that they want the roadway built, Rob Bush, the Park District's general counsel said.
Village Manager Bob Pilipiszyn, when informed Friday evening of the judge's interest in the village's position, said one existed but that it would be inappropriate to conduct that dialog through the media. Pilipiszyn said he would contact Park District officials today to determine the best way to respond to Judge Gillis' request.
Park Commissioner Mary Ellen Penicook, who was in attendance at Friday's negotiations, told the judge she would consult with other park officials and ensure that the judge's request was formally conveyed to the village.
Tom Beyer, an attorney for the Park Friends, said later that park officials were likely to have more success in communicating with village officials. An invitation that he extended to Village President Liz Asperger, encouraging her to participate in the settlement talks, was rebuffed, Beyer said.
Beyer told Judge Gillis the Park Friends are adamantly opposed to extending Shawmut Ave because it would be built over what is currently open green space. Unless the village abandons or severely modifies its plans for the extension, "our clients view it as a dealbreaker," he said.
Beyer noted that ARP President Richard Aaronson, who met privately with Judge Gillis last month, said publicly that the roadway extension is no longer needed to service the downsized La Grange Place development his company hopes to build on the former Rich Port YMCA and an adjacent three-quarter acre of parkland.
Under the development plan approved last year by village trustees, ARP would pay the cost of extending Shawmut Ave. But Aaronson also said that he has asked the village to consider renegotiating the package of public improvements ARP agreed to fund before its project was downsized. Among them are improvements to facilitate traffic flow and pedestrian safety at the intersection of La Grange Rd and Ogden Ave.
Aaronson was successful in renegotiating his contract with the Park District, resulting in a $3 million reduction in the purchase price, according to park officials.
But his attempts to rework ARP's contract with the YMCA hit a wall two weeks ago when the Y announced that it was pulling out of the contract and considering alternative proposals for the parcel, saying a reduction in the purchase price proposed by ARP would not provide enough seed money for the Y to purchase land for a new facility elsewhere in the area.
That event prompted Beyer Friday to question whether it was worthwhile to continue with settlement negotiations.
"We have been told that negotiations between them are not dead," Bush replied.
The new contract excludes a second parcel of parkland, consisting of 2.04 acres directly north of the vacated roadway. ARP had plans to build 23 townhomes on the parcel, while reserving roughly half the parcel as open space, a concession the developer made last year in a settlement with objector William Dobias, a resident of the La Grange Tower condominiums, which adjoin the west side of the parcel. Dobias in return dropped his lawsuit against the sale.
Beyer said a guarantee that the entire 2.04 acres be retained as parkland is required before the Park Friends will withdraw their opposition to the sale of the smaller parcel, which is partially occupied by the Park District's former central maintenance garages.
He says the group fears that if Shawmut Ave is extended, it will eventually lead the Park District to attempt a future sale of the parcel to another developer who will not be bound by ARP's agreement to reserve half of it as open space.
"A road to future development" is how one member of the Park Friends, Kevin Shields, characterizes Shawmut Ave.
Park District attorneys said Friday there are no plans to sell the parcel in the near future but said it would be inappropriate to bind future park boards from attempting a sale at some point if a situation merited such action.
A "final" settlement proposal issued a week ago by the Park District guarantees only that no effort will be made to sell the northern parcel while ARP's development is under construction.
Judge Gillis sought to assure the Park Friends that any attempt by the Park District to sell the second parcel would not be received well by the court, labeling any contemplation of such an effort as "disingenuous."
Regarding the extension of Shawmut Ave, however, Judge Gillis was sympathetic to the concerns expressed by attorneys for the Park District regarding improved access to Gordon Park for fire and emergency vehicles.
"I thought [the Park Friends] didn’t have a real good handle on what could be done with that traffic," the judge said. "I thought they were closed minded to alternatives."
But then she revealed that the group's attorneys had suggested a possible compromise that intrigued her: a "green road," which consists of a reinforced roadbed covered by about eight inches of soil and grass.
Beyer explained that such a roadway would accommodate heavy emergency vehicles such as firetrucks and EMS vans but also preserve the open green space.
"At worst, they would tear up some sod, but that can be easily replaced," he said.
Park District officials Friday offered no formal response to the idea, but did raise concerns about moving pedestrians out of the way of emergency vehicles and plowing snow from the green road during winter.
A status hearing on negotiations was scheduled by Judge Gillis for Dec. 29 at 2:30 p.m. A hearing set for this Thursday was canceled.
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