Trustees Approve Hospital Annexation

Residents packed a public hearing March 15 in opposition to the annexation of the  development.

Depsite some community resistance, the Village of Glenview Board of Trustees unanimously approved the agreement to annex the development at 2255 Sanders Road.

The proposed development of the 10.89 acre site includes a future not-for-profit medical office with a nine-story office building and a seven-story parking garage.

A coalition called Glenview Residents Against the NMH Development, represented by Springfield attorney John Myers, cited concerns about additional traffic created by the development, its tax-exempt status and how the village will handle an increase in emergency services.

"I think the big concerns that the group has have to do with the traffic issues and also has to do with to do with the lost opportunity for the revenue for the village in allowing a sizable not-for-profit, tax-exempt institution to inhabit one of the last, large, developable vacant properties in the town," Myers told the board.

However, while the property would be tax-exempt, more than $3 million in fees would come to the village, Director of Development Mary Bak pointed out.

An annexation fee would generate an estimated $1.4 million; building permits for both phases of construction would mean an $2 million for the village, in addition to $70,000 for the first year in water costs and "moderate" utility and telecommunications taxes, Bak explained in her presentation.

Still, Myers claimed those fees were "a drop in the bucket" compared to what the village could be getting in tax revenue.

Traffic and taxes

But the village trustees weren't buying it. The officials agreed that 1) Because the development is private property, trustees don't have the authority to tell Northwestern how to develop it and 2) If the village denied the petition, Northwestern had the option to get permission from the county, develop the property anyway and the village wouldn't get any revenue at all.

"At least we can attempt to control" the development, Trustee Scott Britton said. "And we'll get $3 million for fees to the village."

Regarding the traffic concens, Trustee Paul Detlefs said Myers had presented two opposing points about wanting another development on the property but not wanting extra traffic in the area.

The attorney is in favor of a for-profit organization moving into the space, but "clearly a for-profit organization would generate traffic as well," Detlefs said. 

Myers doesn't agree with the trustees.

"If the hospital thought they could develop it in the county, why didn't they develop it in the county?" He said during an interview after the meeting. "I'm not believing [that]...there's no evidence of that. It's speculation -- it might turn out to be true, but it's speculation.

"And the other thing is, that my point about taxes is that if you gotta spend $3 million widening and improving a road, how are you going to do that?" Myers continued. "You're going to do that with the tax money that's spun off by a taxable project. And when you have a tax-exempt project, it's not generating that kind of tax revenue."

Officials noted a state widening project will implement improvements at the intersection of Sanders Road and , south of the NMH entrance. The hospital will foot the bill for yearly traffic studies and any improvements needed at the entrance intersection if a traffic signal is needed must also be provided by NMH.

Village President Kerry Cummings said the annexation agreement is a good one and addresses resident concerns, including potential reimbursement to the village for emergency service responses and fire inspections.

"I commend this annexation agreement for working hard to make sure taxpayers aren't footing the bill for services placed on us due to this development," she said.