We’ve consistently been critical of the Camiros/Kretchmer (“C/K”) “comprehensive plan” for the Higgins Road Corridor, which is about as bland and uninspired as any such plan could be. One or two dinky office buildings, a little “facade improvement” and some parking spaces is not a “vision” – unless you’ve got cataracts or need a white cane to get around. 

So putting a lit match to the C/K plan before we waste any more time and money on it is definitely a prudent thing to do. And, surprisingly, that sounds like what the City Council might be doing, judging from the report of the Council’s June 15 “special meeting” in yesterday’s Park Ridge Herald-Advocate (“Higgins plan not detailed enough for some officials,” June 25). 

Given the Council’s (and staff’s) history of bowing and scraping before every hired-gun consultant they employ, chucking C/K would be a full step up the evolutionary ladder for our aldercritters.

But while dumping C/K is a good start, the reported comments of Alds. Jim Allegretti (4th Ward) and Don Bach (3rd Ward) reflect the kind of uninformed micro-managing that, in our opinion, historically has hamstrung the City in addressing development/re-development issues throughout our community.

According to the H-A article, Allegretti and Bach want C/K (or some other consultants?) to provide “directions for achieving specific goals.”  In other words: “Please, oh please, Mr. Consultant, tell us exactly what to do and how to do it so that we don’t have to think for ourselves…and so we’ll have a built-in alibi in case of any bad results.”

Bach wants C/K to report on whether a small hotel or shopping area could work for the Mr. K’s Garden Center site – and, if not, why not.  That’s the right idea but, unfortunately, miserable execution:  by limiting the analysis to that site’s approx. 2.2 acres, Bach is actually discouraging the kind of “blue sky” outside-the-box, revenue-generating ideas that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity deserves.  

That’s why we want to give a big shout-out to 2nd Ward Ald. Rich (“Richie D”) DiPietro, who is quoted in the H-A article thusly: “But in real life, a developer will come to Planning and Zoning or to staff and say they have their own vision for this particular development, and Planning and Zoning will recommend to proceed or not.”

Exactly!  When it comes to development/re-development, the only “vision” that matters is that of the person(s) willing to step up to the plate and make that vision happen.  And the best thing the City can do in that regard is let it be known – in no uncertain terms – that the City is willing to seriously consider any and every plan, even those that include departures from our current zoning standards and/or the acquisition and assembly of more land in order to maximize the value of this opportunity for the benefit of the entire community.

That doesn’t mean bending over backwards and giving the developers anything and everything they ask for.  We have repeatedly advocated for the single-family residential “character” of Park Ridge, and preserving that character should remain a primary concern that should not be betrayed for “thirty pieces of silver” – or at least not unless and until a substantial majority of our residents firmly believe it to be the right thing to do.  

But as our taxes go ever higher and we discover more and more infrastructure and related needs that we are increasingly ill-equipped to afford, restricting or discouraging any “vision” of the Higgins Corridor is done at our – and our children’s and grandchildren’s – peril.