Mission Hills IS Part of Northbrook Although Mission Hills is in unincorporated Northbrook, it is the goal of the Cook County Board of Commissioners that all the unincorporated areas of the county annex to a municipality within the next ten years. Northbrook has already focused on that directive and trustees surely are aware that any mistakes made in rezoning now could come back to haunt them with many infrastructure problems when those areas incorporate into Northbrook. Mission Hills’ residents and neighbors pay property taxes to School District 31, School District 225 and the Northbrook Fire Department, in addition to county and township taxes. We support Northbrook professional and service businesses; shop in Northbrook stores; and dine in Northbrook restaurants. Many of our residents own and/or work in Northbrook businesses, often employing others. We have family members and friends in Northbrook. Many of us have previously lived in Northbrook proper. We do not feel that we should have our lifestyles and our properties devalued and up for grabs because we do for not live within an imaginary boundary line that is beyond our control. Our addresses, our roots, and our hearts are in Northbrook. We need the Village of Northbrook Trustees and the Cook County Board of Commissioners to protect the open lands that we cherish. The Cook County Board of Commissioners will make the ultimate decision if the ZBA rules in favor of Red Seal on December 15, but an objection from the contiguous municipality carries a lot of weight. Government bodies are the only way to stop rezoning now without the lawsuit that many have predicted will happen. A lawsuit has major drawbacks for anyone who has been involved behind the scenes in this questionable rezoning process and a lawsuit would not be the preferable way to resolve it although the discovery process would be likely to be quite interesting. The overwhelming majority of Mission Hills’ owners and neighbors are opposed to rezoning, which according to Cook County rezoning standards is not supposed to have a negative impact on neighbors. The 1971 (ZBA) Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision, partially included below, definitively states that Mission Hills’ golf course was designed to be an integral part of the planned unit development and never separated from the buildings. There are many questions as to why the county allowed Red Seal’s application to rezone Mission Hills. The ZBA’s 1971 decision was so definitive that the ruling even stated percentages permitted of open land, paved land, and structures. The golf course’s ownership has always been separate from the Mission Hills Master Homeowners’ Association, but the property was designed as one Planned Unit Development, no matter who owned the golf course. Separate ownership and golf course management has worked well for over forty years until new owners purchased it in 2013 and then suddenly half of the golf course became the subject of a rezoning application. Mission Hills’ residents never thought that there was any potential for construction on the golf course because it is a PUD and Open Lands. The “bad” developer as a realistic alternative to Red Seal is simply a rampant scare tactic according to the ZBA’s own 1971 decision and the fact that a PUD does not expire. The choice of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is not “Good” Red Seal vs. a “Bad” Developer; it is Red Seal vs. current P2 Open Lands Zoning. If Cook County does not approve Red Seal’s rezoning application, no one can build!
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 07:25:05 +0000
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