Clarendon Hills To Unveil Draft Downtown Plan

CLARENDON HILLS, IL – Clarendon Hills plans to unveil a consultant's draft downtown improvement plan early next month at an open house.

The consulting firm, Houseal Lavigne, was hired after a backlash to the village's idea to build a plaza downtown. Such a move would mean the elimination of a triangle on Prospect Avenue. Removing the triangle, critics say, would reduce safety and cause traffic congestion.

The "Downtown Visioning Open House" is set for 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Community Presbyterian Church, 39 N. Prospect Ave.

The goal is to get residents' insight about the future development of downtown before the Village Board finalizes the plan, according to a village statement.

Participants can drop in, ask questions and share feedback with village staff, the village said.

In August, the Village Board hit pause on the plaza proposal. It involved removing the Sloan Triangle at Prospect and Park avenues. The triangle includes a special lane from Prospect to Park.

Last summer, Clarendon Hills resident Angela Sartori launched a Change.org petition urging residents to stop the plaza plan. More than a thousand people have signed it.

On the petition page last week, Sartori encouraged residents to attend the Feb. 5 open house.

She posted a video of a recent traffic jam during a "rush hour blizzard."

"Yes, our Village endures all 4 seasons, and three of them are too cold for useless plazas," Sartori said.

The consultant issued a survey that closed Dec. 5 for residents' opinions on downtown.

Asked whether the survey results would be released before the open house, the village's acting manager, Paul Dalen, said he believed the firm would use the survey results "in some capacity to formulate their vision for the Downtown."

"It is part of their process, and the Village is not privy to the results of the survey," Dalen said in an email to Patch. "However, they may include some data from their final report to the Board."