Lead Critic Now Supports Lake County Master Plan Approval

Rick Marder, a spokesman for Citizens United for Healthy Development in Libertyville, has been an outspoken critic of Lake County’s master plan for the 172-acre government center facility north of Winchester Road and west of Milwaukee Avenue.

Marder and many other Libertyville residents . .

But during Monday’s meeting, Marder told a crowd of about 50 residents at that he is “resigned” to accept Lake County’s proposed plans.

“Faced with legal challenges or accepting the plan, I’m kind of resigning myself because we have done the best we could,” Marder said. “At the end of the day, the things we don’t want them to do, if the application is not approved, or if they withdrew it, they could do it anyway.”

County Has Right to Build, Even if Plan Not Approved

Under the current plan, Lake County has agreed to eliminate some uses, such as a jail on the property, 24-hour parole or probation facilities on the northern parcels along Adler Drive, and to provide public notice for any construction on the two middle parcels, which would not include an additional notice for the Winchester House proposal, according to Mayor Terry Weppler.

The county agreed to limit 24-hour facilities in some areas to address concerns that such facilities would cause light pollution for nearby neighbors.

“The county is not willing to completely eliminate the possibility of construction of justice, public order, and safety uses such as courts or parole on the property,” Weppler said. “This is not to say that they have any planned on the property at this time. However, they will not agree to tie their hands in the future.”

Lake County’s master plan goes before the the village trustees could vote either to approve or to deny the plan. Village ordinance requires sites that are 50 acres or greater to submit a 20-year master plan.

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If the board rejects the plan, Lake County could de-annex from the village, a right it has since it is not surrounded by the village boundaries, according to Weppler. If that happens, Lake County would not be required to follow the master plan and would not have to eliminate correctional uses, have setback or floor-area ration restrictions.

“I’m not saying the county has ever brought this up or threatened it, but the county has the right to de-annex and the village could lose every bit of control we have completely,” Weppler said. “That’s what Grainger did in Mettawa. They didn’t like what Mettawa was telling them and they de-annexed from Mettawa and went under the county guidelines.”

W.W. Grainger Corp. de-annexed from Mettawa in the early 1990s after the village denied the industrial supply company’s request to develop the land as a corporate headquarters.

Some Residents Want Master Plan Rejected

Lake County Administrator Barry Burton says while he cannot predict what the county will want to do with the land in 20 years, he assured the crowd that the county today only has plans for senior housing, rehabilitation center and expansion of storage facilities.

“We don’t put facilities up that are unsafe. It doesn’t occur and it hasn’t occurred,” Burton said.

Some residents, however, say they are still afraid of the unknown. They want village trustees to reject the plan and take the case to court.

“In this game of chicken, I’m saying let’s roll the dice and take a chance” in court, one resident said during the meeting.

Marder applauded the resident for still wanting to fight the fight, but he says at this stage of the game, the village and residents really only have two decisions, because taking the case to court would be costly to taxpayers without guaranteed results.

“I just wish there was more behind us just saying, ‘let’s go’, ‘bring it on,’ because if there was more meat behind that, I would have jumped on the bandwagon, “Marder said. “I haven’t fallen off the old bandwagon; I’m just becoming more resigned to accepting the plan.”

Related articles:

• Guide to Lake County’s Master Plan