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Oak- Park- Journal
Published weekly to serve Oak Park, River Forest, and Forest Park, Illinois
"We will inform and entertain you with the truth.  Every town that we serve has something to do with trees. 
It is a shame so many are destroyed to bring the news.  We save trees, and so do you by reading this"

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Dear Editor,

What started as a Quixotic Adventure has turned into a David and Goliath
story. Big Marshall Field V, Oak Park Hospital and Rush Presbyterian St.
Luke's Hospital announced to the world an expansion of Biblical proportions.
One that would change the face of the earth, but seen as a rending of a
community by the majority  of Oak Park Hospital's neighbors. So the conflict
began. Residents United In Saving Our Homes (R.U.S.H.) was born. 

The developers, Partners 99' LLC, released half truths or partial truths and
refused to provide documentation on the project. They refused to review
alternative sites saying, they had done it once and rejected everything
(admitting under oath that no proof exits because it was done on scrap paper
around board table during a bull session). During the first two Trustee
meetings and the first Planning Commission meeting they sat back with a
Cheshire smile, until the Planning Commission grilled them mercilessly.

In the meantime R.U.S.H. worked tirelessly. This group of neighbors consists
of several lawyers, an Architect, Interior designer, Traffic Expert,
Psychologist, Market Executive, Doctor, Hospital Administrator, Journalist,
to name just a few. If this were a company, bill able hours would have been
significantly over $30,000. When R.U.S.H.  finally stepped up to the bat, we
presented: 

1) two petitions with over 800 OP residents against the project

2) A letter signed by 58 Realtors at 11 major OP Realty's stating that
property values would decline 

3) Two Alternative sites that met or surpassed
all of the Hospital's need and Developers wants 

4) Legal analysis of the developers application and why it didn't meet certain 
requirements of the Planning Commission rules and the 1990 OP Economic Development report.

5) A traffic planning report that showed how the project's traffic expert had
reduced all of his calculations by 50% on a whim. Then it was shown that the
project would still create a level "E" situation at Madison and Wisconsin
(which is an unsatisfactory condition). 

If the real numbers were used the traffic would consistently back up from Harlem to Home avenue. Their reportrefused to acknowledge any traffic coming off Harlem or Oak Park Ave. on to Jackson. When asked under oath how Mark Johnson our Traffic Expert would
divert traffic from Jackson, he replied that he would move the project to
Madison, because otherwise their plan left no alternative 6) a cost analysis
showing how the alternatives would cost the developers only 1 to 2% more and
not eliminate most of the houses (replacing a few with town houses) and make
the Village as much in taxes.....

The next day a press conference by Oak Park Hospital was held to announce
that the Hospital Board of Trustees had asked Goliath/Partners 99' LLC to
consider the alternatives presented by R.U.S.H. at the meeting. This will be
a victory for all residential neighborhoods of Oak Park that may some day
encroached by a formidable opponent. The battle is not yet over, but the
tide may have turned. September 2nd is the last of three meetings gathering
information for the Planning Commission and then a vote will occur September
16th. From there it goes to the Village Trustees. Of course the developers
can swallow their pride and chose to withdrawal their application and chose
one of the alternatives.

 Don't hold your breath. Public pressure must continue until they bend or
the Village rejects the application for rezoning and suggests them to
reapply with one of our alternatives.

Randy Gillett
A R.U.S.H. member

Past Report in the Oak Park Journal.com