Milovich-Walters Addresses 'Divisive' Wu's Parking Lot Expansion

Dear Residents of Palos Park,

I realize that the Wu’s House parking lot expansion has caused much division within our Village, and I want to provide the facts as I know them.

Six years ago, Michael Masterson, owner of Hackney’s, informed the Village that he would be retiring and was looking to sell the property formerly known as Hackney’s. Soon after that commercial real estate agents approached the Village with potential buyers for the property. The Village Council was approached about a CVS, a gas station, and a bank to name a few. Each time we discouraged the agent from pursuing those buyers as that was not what we thought would be appropriate development on that property. We felt a new restaurant was a better fit for our community. We pursued Rosebud restaurant, among others, but they ultimately located in Lemont.

When Wu’s House approached the Village in 2019, it was an attractive idea, in that, they had a proven track record of running other successful locations. After a significant investment in the property, Wu’s opened in 2021, and the restaurant was wildly successful. Soon Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays the restaurant was crowded, and parking became an issue. The restaurant determined that additional parking was necessary and began the permit process for an amendment to the Commercial PUD ordinance before the Village’s Plan commission.

Wu’s House presented plans for the expansion a total of three times in public meetings. The first two were before the Village’s Plan Commission and were rejected for a number of reasons, but most notably, they did not meet code requirements as they were seeking variances from the Village’s code. The property where new parking was planned was always zoned commercial. Wu’s listened to concerns about the type of trees that needed to be saved, concerns about endangered species and water runoff. The third presentation of the Plan was made before the Village Council on February 27, 2023 and made several changes from the plans submitted to the Village’s Plan Commission. The applicant added an underground water detention system, not unlike the one located at the Palos Park Metra station. They reduced the number of additional parking spots requested to 73. The revised plan saved every tree with greater than 20-inch circumference. The applicant preserved 32 trees including four 33-inch diameter white oak trees. They will remove, when timing is right, a total of 42 trees, 10 dead, 3 poor, 13 fair and 16 in good condition, but 6 of those in good condition are cottonwood trees. In turn, the applicant will plant back 27 canopy trees, 55 evergreens, 7 understory trees and 29 arborvitaes, totaling 118 new trees. Additionally, there will be numerous shrubs and smaller plantings.

After many months of negotiations and review of various plans, Wu’s House met all the necessary requirements for the expansion WITHOUT a variance and provided the least impact to the trees. In addition, Wu’s is placing a conservation easement on the adjacent residential property to the east, which means the residential property can never be built upon, saving the largest trees and preserved a football-field-sized, fully forested buffer property between the parking and the first neighbor. The bottom line is Wu’s House met ALL the code requirements without the need for a variance.

Doing what is in the best in interest of the Village is always my motivation. I could have chosen to delay the vote until after the election but that would have been the political thing, not the honest thing to do. I serve the residents, not my own agenda. I am committed to preserving our “gem” called Palos Park. Palos Park has one of the toughest tree protection ordinances for construction in the entire state and we are about to receive our 30th Tree City USA award. My service on the Palos/Orland Conservation Committee for eight years and pursuit of green initiatives as a Council Member demonstrate my commitment to conservation and preservation. I’m proud of my contributions to keeping Palos Park a very special place to live and hope to continue to do so.

Sincerely,

Nicole Milovich-Walters