A little about lot sizes
I’ve moseyed around Forest Park a lot lately (no pun intended) and noticed that we really do have quite a variety of lot sizes. Since the much maligned moratorium only addresses new construction I don’t see why people are outraged. Scratch that ” I don’t see why anyone who chooses Forest Park for his or her permanent home is outraged. There is no moratorium on expanding your current home if more space is what you need. Just work within the guidelines and ask for variances where needed. The village can be quite accommodating.
The outrage is happening because of people who aren’t necessarily interested in staying in Forest Park, or if they are, they’re looking to cash in for their own sakes, not caring about the look and feel of our neighborhood(s).
Case 1: We have two lots. The house on one is too small so we want to build a bigger house on the other lot, and then sell the smaller one. We’re claiming “financial hardship”. What hardship? If you can afford to build a bigger home, then you can certainly afford to expand your current home. Combine the lots in order to meet coverage requirements. That’s a lot easier than building a new home, and I think it’s a little less expensive, so you don’t have to incur a financial burden. The real issue here is that you want to have a financial gain (or at least less of a loss when building your new home). That’s ok – you’re entitled ” just not here in Forest Park on tiny lots where newer, taller houses are blocking out the light to their neighbors.
Case 2: We have purchased double lots intending to split them and build two homes and now, boo hoo, we can’t do it. “Financial Hardship!!!” You should have checked with village hall prior to the purchase, or you should have acted more quickly. Clearly you aren’t going to live in two homes, so obviously your plan was to sell either one or both of the homes. You have no desire to embrace Forest Park ” you just want to make some money.
Case 3: You want to combine a number of lots and build oh, I don’t know, maybe some town homes? We don’t have enough of those. These are the people who think we’re ignorant enough to believe that they care about adding variety and dimension to Forest Park. Again, the bottom line here is making money, and we all know it.
Maybe I’m the only one in town who is disappointed that all these people want to change the face of Forest Park by adding town homes and plastic looking carbon copy Naperville-esque boxes. I thought people moved to Forest Park because they liked its’ look, location, and feel. Apparently, they all like Forest Park because of the possibility of changing everything good about it.
In every one of the above cases the land purchasers have talked about raising our property values. That catch phrase is getting a little old. Clearly, we don’t need YOUR project for our property values to go up. They’ve been doing just fine on their own. Besides, an increase in property value only serves a purpose if and when you sell. Until then, it’s just an increase in property taxes, but then again, you won’t have to worry about that, will you? You’ll have moved on by the time the tax bills come!
Keep the moratorium ” it’s GOOD for Forest Park!
Marcy Wozniak
(not anti-development;
for SMART development)
