More On Maryville Development From CPNA

From Clarendon Park Neighbors Association regarding the proposed Lake View Station development:

"We wanted to make the neighborhood aware of some recent events surrounding the proposed Maryville site and the development proposal by Sedgwick development.

Today we emailed every Aldermanic candidate we could find an email for (and have reached out to those for whom we could locate a website or telephone number), and asked them to specifically state their stance on the following issues:

1. The Sedgwick Properties development proposal and their feelings about Sedgwick Properties.
2. The proposed Maryville TIF designed to fund improvements at Clarendon Park
3. The community parking lot and its future.

We have asked the candidates to return their responses by Friday, January 21st. We will then send out a email with all their responses, as well as post a flyer on every building in the neighborhood.

We have also a noted a number of inconsistencies listed on Sedgwick Development's website to promote their proposed development and wanted to make sure we highlighted these as well.

• Specifically, they claim they offered to provide free overnight parking after initially planning to charge a fee. In reality, this was our first and strongest demand and was also a demand of Alderman Shiller from day one.
• Secondly, they claim they have held many community meetings and have given the community plenty of input into the planning. In truth, they met with some community representatives, who, at the behest of Alderman Shiller, heard their proposal and offered some insight. In no way were these meetings meant to replace and substantiate a larger community process, that to our minds has not taken place yet. The only true community meetings that were held were arranged as open houses, and did not provide the community the opportunity to hear each others concerns, as well as question the developer in front of the entire assemblage of neighbors and concerned citizens.

A group of concerned citizens has started a group called the Uptown Coalition for Responsible Development (UCRD) and have posted a petition online for those who wish to see a moratorium placed on any decision regarding this property and development proposal until after the new Alderman and the new City administration have a chance to review the facts and design a community process that is transparent, inclusive, and exhaustive.

• Here is a link to the petition, which we encourage every community resident to sign and forward to all your neighbors.
• Here is a link to UCRD's website, which includes a letter from Alderman Shiller specifically spelling out her concerns, as well as contact info for UCRD.

The developer has chosen to engage in a large and expensive PR campaign that seeks to mislead the neighborhood on the history of their proposal. Because of this, we must insist on a complete halt to the process as well as a clear stance from those seeking to replace Alderman Shiller.

Please let us know if you have questions or concerns that we can help to address."