Weiland Road

Stan:  You mentioned my name in your recent blog regarding the Weiland Road expansion, and, while even you have the right to voice your opinions, your irreverent comments are made without knowing the whole story.  You yourself state on your own website, “Think you understand the news and information you receive every day?  Take a look at the sources, look for bias and make sure the provider is giving you information that is Verifiable, Independent and Accountable.”  But you did not follow your own advice when you wrote about me.

First of all, thank you for your impromptu history lesson that one of the freedoms that Dr. Martin Luther King fought for was freedom of speech and the right to petition government, and that the First Amendment to the Constitution specifically addressed the right to freedom of speech, prior to Dr. King’s comments on the matter.  I am well aware of what freedoms are afforded me, and what my rights are.  I am also aware of Public Law 91-646, which in case you don’t know, is the “Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970,” otherwise known as the Eminent Domain Act, which allows the government to forcibly take your home and property “for the public good.”  But will it really be for the public good in this situation if the Village of Buffalo Grove forcibly confiscates people’s homes? 

When a “study” is conducted to justify the razing of people’s homes, and that study initially inflates the estimated volume of cars on the roadway, underestimates the cost, and ignores the impact of trains on traffic flow, I would say that study used flawed data to arrive at the decision to forcibly confiscate people’s homes.  Even one of the board members had to admit that not all of the options were discussed in detail prior to their voting to go ahead with the project.  And that is unfair.  If that’s grinding an axe, then so be it.  I am entitled to express my opinions, just like you.

There are other conflicts of interest as well.  Elliott Hartstein, the former mayor of Buffalo Grove, sits on the board of directors of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, another group responsible for the “planning” involved in the Weiland Road project.  I can certainly think of much more critical areas needing improvement than the 2.2 mile stretch of Weiland Road that dead-ends at either end and only runs through a small neighborhood.

One of the more contentious items, which other residents noticed and commented on at several meetings previously, was that property is being seized all along the existing Weiland Road in part because the road widening included plans for a bike path, when there is already an existing bike path running parallel to the proposed route just a few blocks west of Weiland Road, and another parallel bike path just to the east.  I discovered that according to the Village Manager’s report of December 20, 2010, the then Village President, Elliott Hartstein appointed you to the Bicycle Path Ad-Hoc Committee.  Is that why you criticized my opinions?  It appears that your blog isn’t exactly “Independent and Accountable” in that case.   I guess you just have to “take a look at the source, and look for bias,” as you counseled on your website. 

You may not be aware of the history of the Horatio Gardens subdivision of unincorporated Prairie View.  In 2001, the Buffalo Grove Village Board voted to annex this area without notifying the residents, in order to raise taxes for the park district.  Problem was, this annexation move was ILLEGAL, and had to be rescinded by the Buffalo Grove Village Board.   And in exercising my rights under the Freedom of Information Act, I came across Ordinance No. 2009-15 of the Village of Buffalo Grove, which stated, “The unincorporated properties along the east side of Weiland Road north of Pauline Avenue (Area #20, Map 12) are appropriate for redevelopment.  Properties between Pauline and Pope Boulevard and bounded on the east by Celia Avenue will be considered for annexation and redevelopment if the proposed planning is consistent with the Village’s intent to reduce or eliminate current driveway access to Weiland Road and provide comprehensive stormwater management.”  It was decided as early as March 23, 2009, or even earlier, to FORCIBLY CONFISCATE people’s homes, without a public hearing, without any input from residents, and without any notice. The study using flawed data, and the public hearings in April and June, 2011, and on October 3, 2013, were a moot point, designed to conform to the letter of the law, but not the spirit, since the Village had already decided upon their course of action years before. 

Why is it that the only homes to be razed along the existing roadway (not for the proposed extension, where even MORE homes are to be confiscated) happen to be in the one block area and only area which is in unincorporated Prairie View?  Why are these homes being slated for demolition when there is open land directly across the street which could be utilized?  Why are some homes a block north, which have less acreage and are located as close to the edge of the road as the Prairie View homes, and have driveways also opening onto Weiland Road, but have a Buffalo Grove address, not also condemned?   This is not so much about widening a road as it is about disrespecting law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, who should have the freedom to live wherever they want without the fear of forced relocation, and ridding the area of older, smaller homes.  I find it ironic that the message on the homepage of the Buffalo Grove Village website states emphatically that, “Everyone here is family.  Everyone is welcome!”  They should clarify that this is only the case if you and your property fit the Buffalo Grove persona.  And only if you agree with the Village Board’s “roadmap” for “improvement.”  

And before you argue that there is no discrimination against Prairie View residents because Buffalo Grove residents at the north end of the road will also have their homes confiscated, two wrongs don’t make a right, and it’s not a contest to see how high the misery index can be raised.  Whether for a bike path or for a looping connector road, are you and the board so insensitive as to cavalierly dismiss the unilateral displacing of families with the argument of, “It’s for the public good?”  I’m sure it would be a different story if YOUR home, or the homes of the board members who voted for this, were affected.  Just as Martin Luther King brought people of all races together, so do the affected residents of both Prairie View and Buffalo Grove stand together in their opposition of the forcible confiscation of their homes and property, no matter where along the roadway they are located. 

As I listened at the January 20 Board meeting, I heard several residents approach the board about modifications to the plans, which would include altering the height of noise walls, moving the easement so as to save mature trees, and other such changes.  Each time, the Village Board instructed the resident, who happened to live in Buffalo Grove, to discuss it with Darren Monaco, the Village Engineer.  I don’t begrudge anyone asking for, and receiving changes to this ill-conceived road reconfiguration.  But there were no concessions made to any residents of Prairie View.  Mr. Zoller, we are not victims of discrimination because we disagree with the BG Village Board, as you stated.  We are being discriminated against because we are Prairie View residents, and we cannot even vote for anything that goes on within Buffalo Grove Village boundaries or any of the elected officials, yet this is not the first time we are negatively impacted by their actions. 

And that goes against all of the principles set forth in the Constitution, and by Dr. King.

Nora Bethman