Residents Distressed by Aptakisic Creek Tree Removal

Residents in Buffalo Grove’s Old Farm Village neighborhood are expressing anger after village crews cut down countless trees along Aptakisic Creek.

Stumps remain where trees previously lined the creek, just north of . As a result, one resident told Buffalo Grove Patch, “the neighborhood is up in arms.”

They have responded to what another homeowner described as “a war zone” by displaying on their fences and some remaining trees brightly colored, homemade posters protesting the tree removal.

“It’s pretty devastating,” said Cathy Levinson, who has lived in the neighborhood for 24 years. 

“Originally, when we saw it, we knew they were clearing out. It needed it. It was late last week when we realized they had leveled pretty much everything,” she said. “It looks like combat, a war zone. It’s awful.”

The tree removal spans both sides of the creek from Buffalo Grove Road to just east of the park.

“Now instead of trees in the backyard that they look at, [residents] look at the ComEd power station,” Levinson said.

Buffalo Grove Village Manager Dane Bragg said the trees were removed by crews.

“We’ve been removing invasive species within the creek channel,” he said.

The targeted trees, he said, also included those that were “dead, dangerous and diseased.”

The work began last month near Buffalo Grove Road between Aptakisic Road and Thompson Boulevard, and proceeded east toward the residential area, Bragg said.

Bragg said restoration will follow along Aptakisic Creek, but he was not sure what those plans entailed or whether further tree removal was scheduled. He referred Patch to Public Works Director Greg Boysen, who could not be reached Monday.

“Every year we do removal in drainage ways, creek beds,” Bragg said. “We kind of rotate around as we have the time available, resources available to get them done.”

Levinson said she and her neighbors are frustrated that plans about the tree removal weren’t communicated to residents. They fear that the work will continue further east, where trees have not been touched.

Along the path, homeowners expressed their distress with signs carrying such messages as “Your tax dollars at work?” and “Look what they did to our trees and land.”

Bragg said Monday that the village had received a few calls from residents about the tree removal. Receiving most of the calls was the . The posters displayed along the creek, along with messages written in chalk, direct residents to call park district officials with their complaints.

Park district spokesman Mike Terson said officials estimated that 3 percent of the affected property belongs to the district. The rest is village-owned property, and the park district was not notified before the work began, he said.

“The Buffalo Grove Park District did not do that,” Terson said. “If people choose to be angry, it shouldn’t be at the park district.”

March 15 update: