Clash Over Clarendon Hills Downtown Plaza

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Some Clarendon Hills residents suggested Monday that a proposed plaza would attract more people downtown.

Others contended the plan would cause traffic backups and endanger pedestrians.

Many also portrayed the debate over the issue on Facebook as unnecessarily divisive.

For nearly an hour and a half, the Village Board listened to residents speak about replacing the Sloan Triangle at Prospect and Park avenues with a plaza. It would involve removing a special lane from Prospect to Park.

Trustees said little because they had no plan to take action at the meeting.

Ruby Street resident Rachel Murphy, a mother of four, said the plaza would slow drivers downtown. And she has no time for that.

Clarendon Hills resident Laura Donnelly, holding her baby, tells the Village Board on Monday that she favors the downtown plaza proposal. (David Giuliani/Patch)

"A very functional road is more important than somewhere to drink my coffee," she said. "When you have four kids in the car, my car time can be described as hell occasionally. I don't want to slow down and be delayed."

Andrea Magee, a local physician who moved to Clarendon Hills in 2022, favors a plaza.

"I think it would promote socializing and lingering in downtown Clarendon Hills," she said.

The issue is worth discussing, she said, but it should not be "twisted into propaganda."

Because of "mocking cruelty," plaza supporters don't want to take part in the unpleasant conversation, Magee said.

While speaking, Magee heard a woman in the second row mumble something, so she asked her what she said.

The woman replied, "I was thinking they must not have very strong opinions."

Woodstock Avenue resident Angela Sartori, who has been leading the petition effort against the plaza, questioned the village's engineering study on the traffic effects of experimentally closing the special lane next to the triangle.

Sartori said she had photos and information that countered the study. She said they showed that without the lane, traffic backups were almost double what the engineer and police concluded – a case she has made on Facebook.

Trustee John Weicher said he was concerned with what he called "inappropriate" questioning of the professional traffic study. He said the study noted that two school buses stopping on Prospect Avenue backed up traffic as much as Sartori indicated.

"There was no confusion, no omission," Weicher said, adding that his statement was no defense for the plaza.

"I'm not trying to cause a debate," he said. "There is little value in impugning the results of (the engineer's report)."

Sartori also said she spoke with three businesses near where the lane was closed for a week and that their sales declined by 10 percent to 40 percent compared to a year earlier.

She also said the shutdown led to drivers speeding in an alley, putting others in danger.

"People aren't interested in coming into the congestion," she said.

Colfax Avenue resident Laura Donnelly, who was holding her baby, supports the plaza, saying the village's future is young families coming back.

"As wonderful as this town is, it needs to grow," she said. "If the plaza does move forward, I doubt the residents who don't want the plaza now will be upset once they are enjoying their Sparrow coffee or ... ice cream on the plaza on a nice 70-degree Saturday."

Village President Eric Tech said the village plans an informational meeting on the plaza Sept. 8. No decisions are expected at the meeting, he said.

Clarendon Hills resident Andrea Magee supports a downtown plaza, saying it would "promote socializing and lingering in downtown Clarendon Hills." (David Giuliani/Patch)

Mera Johnson, Clarendon Hills' assistant village manager, reads the rules for public comments at the beginning of Monday's Village Board meeting. Officials said the last meeting became heated. Next to Johnson were trustees John Weicher (middle) and Chris Lang. (David Giuliani/Patch)