THEATER BUILDING IMPROVEMENTS APPROVED FOR FUTURE RESTAURANT

An inquiring Village Board trustee learned Aug. 24 -- as did some members of the community -- that approval of a design review permit for a downtown property owner does not necessarily mean that person is required to actually ever do the proposed upgrade.

Such is the case of La Grange Theater owner John Rot, who received a unanimous stamp of approval at this week's board meeting to make planned facade improvements on the first floor retail spaces at 88 S. La Grange Road, immediately south of the theater at 80 S. La Grange Road, which have been vacant for a couple years.

Rot, who co-owns the theater and the nearby Horton's Home Furnishings store with David Rizner, plans to attract a restaurant with an outside cafe to the site to complement both the movie house and the existing central business district.

The four-storefront retail space is at the gateway to the downtown business district for motorists and pedestrians coming from the south through the residential historic district and most recently housed an optometrist office, a clothing resale shop and an antique coin shop, among other businesses.

At the meeting, Trustee James Palermo asked what protocol village staff has to make sure design review proposals are actually carried out by those to whom they are granted.

He was told by Community Development Director Patrick Benjamin that although he does all he can to work with a developer or building owner to meet the requirements of the code, there is no requirement -- just like with building permits -- for the work to ever be done.

"Typically after a permit is issued, it doesn't mean they're going to do everything they were authorized to do," he said, noting the permit approval does not mandate any changes be made.

Although village code dictates a design review permit is required whenever any new entrances or doorways are added that change the exterior appearance of a building within the designated Design Review District (mostly downtown), a permit is just that.

Palermo, who has been critical of the village's funding of recent theater improvements using proceeds of the downtown tax increment financing district, said he most interested in the part of the code which reads a project must be "in strict compliance" with the said ordinance.

"How do we follow up and see what was promised the village is actually delivered?" he asked.

He pointed to the case of a proposed new awning that was supposed to be erected on the facade of a building at 512 W. Burlington Ave. some time ago, for which a design permit was issued, but was never realized.

Village Attorney Mark Burkland reiterated Benjamin's remarks, that the code does not mandate such a project is ever undertaken.

Trustee Bill Holder summed it up best when he added that a permit "bestows the right, but not the obligation."

Rot's project would allow him to enhance the appearance of the property while maintaining the character and historical quality of the building.

The proposed improvements include replacement of two alcoves on the north end and one alcove on the south end of the property with new doors and a vestibule, as well as three new bronze metal and fluorescent frosted decorative lighting fixtures on timers at the east elevation and one at the main entrance.

Cleaning and maintenance, including future tuck-pointing, of the existing yet deteriorating terra cotta, new granite at the base and brick on both the south and east portions of the building.

The new store front would be beige, matching the second floor windows.

The new door at the east side of the facade would be used solely by the potential restaurateur's wait staff attending to customers seated outside, Rot told the Design Review Commission at an Aug. 12 meeting. That door would be locked during the winter months.

The door at the far west of the south elevation would be used only for deliveries.

BREAKING NEWS: POLICE INVESTIGATE ARMED ROBBERY AT LA GRANGE STORE

La Grange Police are on the lookout for a young man who robbed a cellular telephone store at knifepoint during broad daylight Wednesday afternoon.

The armed robbery took place at the new Cricket store at 1040 S. La Grange Road, at approximately 3:40 p.m.

A store employee told police the suspect -- described as a white man with blonde hair and about 20 years old, wearing jeans, white shoes and a grey hoodie -- walked into the business and sat down with his hood partially covering his face and announced the holdup, according to Sergeant Vic Arnold.

"He walked in alone, sat down and told the clerk 'Give me all your money," got it and left," said Arnold, who confirmed the suspect got away with $100 cash.

The suspect was last seen southbound on foot in the alley behind the Clark gas station, which is closed, fenced-in and under renovation. However, responding officers could not locate anybody.

"We didn't make an apprehension," Arnold reported, adding investigators are now analyzing a videotape from a store security camera in an attempt to further identify the offender.

No injuries were reported and the store was back in business shortly afterward.

Anyone with information leading to the capture of a suspect in this case is urged to call the La Grange Police Department at (708) 579-2333.

LIKE MODERN-DAY MAYBERRY?

"Mayberry for the 21st Century?"

Is that what he said?

Sure thing.

Village President Liz Asperger, who can often be seen -- just like Andy and Helen or, say, Barney and Thelma Lou -- strolling down the village sidewalks with her husband and dog in tow -- responded in kind to remarks attributed to Chicago magazine writer Dennis Rodkin in response to the August 2009 issue of his publication naming La Grange "The Best of Chicago" in its annual issue.

Rodkin, a real estate columnist whose annual reviews usually end up being used as huge marketing vehicles for communities because of their prestige, penned the story for the magazine. He says something unusual has happened in La Grange.

“La Grange feels just like a hometown. It’s old fashioned and practical, it stayed true to itself but grew up,” stated Rodkin. “It’s really rare to have the mix of both old and new businesses. Not a lot of suburbs have a Trader Joe’s, a hardware store and an old-time theatre. La Grange really is the Mayberry for the 21st century. Here, police officers patrol on Segways.”

Well, maybe not all the time. But it does have a Segway store and who can boast that?

Village officials were thrilled to learn about the new distinction.

“We are honored, Chicago Magazine chose the Village of LaGrange as the ‘Best’ downtown,” stated Asperger. “We are proud of our community and businesses and it’s a great gift to be recognized. Our goal is to be the ‘Best’ every day in the eyes of our business owners, residents and visitors to our village.”

Asperger points to advances in the downtown business district over the past 20 years.

“This clearly affirms the work that has been done in the central business district over the past two decades,” said Patrick Benjamin, community development director. “It’s nice to be recognized for the commitment that many business leaders, residents, elected and appointed officials have made to the community.”

The village is in the early stages of developing a plan with other community organizations to celebrate the recognition with residents and communicate the recognition with businesses on a local and regional scale in the coming weeks and months ahead.

La Grange was incorporated in 1879 and has more than 15,000 residents.

PAWN SHOP PROPOSAL LIKELY DEAD

Andrew Grayson was given the La Grange Village Board's definitive answer this week as to whether his proposed downtown pawn shop will ever see the light of day.

The answer was a resounding "no" -- yet Grayson, who has already been issued a business license to operate All-Star Jewelry & Loan at 71 S. La Grange Road says he is still considering his options.

He and a couple residents who attended the Village Board's July 13 meeting at which pawn shops and a few other business uses such as swimming pool and used building materials stores were banned as permitted uses in the C-1 central business district, feel lost disturbed by the way in which he was treated more than simply opposed.

The budding entrepreneur, who is taking time to consult with his lawyer, is disappointed, he says, a victim of false perceptions of the industry in which he makes a living and of what he calls a lack of common courtesy provided to him by a village whose community development director initially embraced him.

"I had the courtesy of being told by other villages not to bother pursuing a license (one, he says, was Oak Park)," he said following the unanimous board vote agreeing with a Plan Commission recommendation to eliminate pawn shops as a permitted use. "That's why I'm so disappointed. I wasn't given the same courtesy here in La Grange."

Residents Melody Holt and Joan Hoigand agreed that something definitely stunk about the process.

Holt told the board how she felt, while Hoigand became vocal after the meeting.

"I don't think it's precedent setting at all," she argued. "It was business as usual."

But those who vehemently defended the ban countered it was the right thing to do on behalf of a community whose residents and business operators did not think the retail use was in keeping with a business district the village spent so long trying to improve.

Even though Grayson was already granted a license to operate the shop, Village Manager Bob Pilipszyn confirmed that in his mind, what the board enacted this week will fully and legally prevent Grayson from ever opening his intended business where he has chosen to do it. And other officials greed.

"We are able to make this change; the village has the right to put the pause button on," remarked Trustee Thomas Livingston at the Village Hall meeting, adding, "It was in the right for the village to do so. I cannot foresee voting for this ... (a pawn shop) literally in the shadow of this building."

Trustee Mark Kuchler went a step further in reference to building owner John Brannen when he said, "I don't think when the landlord entered into negotiations with the pawn shop that was serving the best intent of the central business district, I don't think that it was."

IMPROVED ACCESS TO HOSPITAL EYED

The only vehicular bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad between La Grange and Hinsdale -- a onetime wooden footbridge where visitors, patients and staff of Adventist Hinsdale Hospital get to and from 47th Street -- may soon be a vestige of the past.

The circa-1875 one-lane bridge, for which north-south traffic is controlled by a traffic light, first became a bridge for automobile traffic in 1910.

But faced with the fact firetrucks cannot safely travel over the structure and the viaduct over the tracks created by its low 23-foot clearance makes it impossible for some freight
trains to pass, Hinsdale officials are weighing options as to how to update the Oak Street bridge to today's standards.

A $700,000 feasibility study is expected to begin this year to look into options to upgrade the bridge, which could include making it a two-lane, building a bridge in a new location of a tunnel beneath the tracks.

The 110-foot-long, 5-ton capacity bridge was originally erected so people could get across the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad tracks just two years after Hinsdale's incorporation. The structure used today was redesigned in 1947.

'TCF BANDIT' HITS JEWEL BANK -- AGAIN

The FBI and LaGrange Park police are hunting for a suspect in today's mid-morning robbery of a TCF Bank branch in the Jewel Food Store on Woodlawn Avenue.

No injuries were reported and and an undisclosed amount of cash was stolen in the 10:40 a.m. July 6 robbery, in which a clean-shaven man with a large build, about 40 years old and about 5-foot-7 walked up to a teller and handed her a note -- announcing a stick-up and threatening them with harm if they did not comply with his demands, according to FBI spokeswoman Cynthia Yates. After being handed the money, he fled on foot.

The robber implied he had a weapon. but never displayed one.

This is the second time this year the branch, at 507 E. Woodlawn behind the Village Market shopping plaza, was robbed, according to authorities, perhaps by the same man. The last reported robbery was on March 13.

The suspect, dubbed the "TCF Bandit" because of the estimated 10 TCF robberies for which he is believed responsible since 2007.

The suspect is believed to be the same person who robbed similar banks at Jewel Food Stores in La Grange, Westchester, Norridge and Chicago.

A $15,000 reward is being offered for leads resulting in the capture of the bandit.

To report leads, call the FBI at (312) 421-6700.

PLANNERS DEEP-SIX PAWN SHOP USE

Despite claims that he plans to operate an upscale business in a community that already boasts many residents whom he claims patronize the business he operates in North Riverside, Andrew Grayson may not likely be allowed to open a pawn shop in downtown La Grange.

The Plan Commission, in a well-attended meeting June 29, voted unanimously to recommend for Village Board approval that pawn shops and a laundry list of other uses be prohibited in the central business district -- a move supported by village staff and answering the calls of business leaders and residents ever since news broke a month ago of the proposed All-Star Jewelry & Loan at 71 S. La Grange Road.

The proposed business owner, Andrew Grayson of Berwyn, already sought and was granted a business license by the Community Development Department -- the same department that turned around and recommended the zoning code be altered to ban such businesses as permitted uses.

However, even after blistering testimony from both commissioners, residents and one key business leader and a clear 7-0 vote against his life's investment, Grayson was unmoved in his resolve to do as he has planned.

Although he initially declined to speak to reporters after the meeting, when asked what he believed the impact the resounding vote might mean to his business, Grayson replied: "I don't see how it affects me."

Village Attorney Mark Burkland said that remains to be seen, as it is now up to the Village Board to take final action on the recommendations and decide if and how to deal with Grayson. The board plans to discuss the issue at 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 13.

After Grayson told the panel his version of events since first deciding to go into business on his own, he vigorously .defended his right to operate despite people's faulty perceptions.

"While I understand some people's perceptions of a pawn shop ... my pawn shop isn't going to be anything like that," he testified, with his wife, stepson and other relatives looking on. "I was duped into pursuing a license in La Grange (and) it's too late to change my business plan ... I have invested more than I can afford to lose in this business."

He tried to explain how rare it is to actually come across stolen items, noting his relationship with other police departments -- whom he has to report all pawned items to under Illinois law -- is impeccable.

"I'm just a guy trying to pursue his business (dream) and I'm being unfairly discriminated against," he said. "I look forward to being a proud business owner in La Grange."

However, the roughest testimony against Grayson's best intentions came from a lawyer on the commission, La Grange Business Association Chairman Michael La Pidus and a former Cook County prosecutor.

"There is no such thing as a bucolic, safe pawn shop. They are toxic by nature," said Ashland Avenue resident Thomas Epoch, the former criminal prosecutor and top assistant to a former Chicago police superintendent. "They (cater to) people on the down and out and (if allowed) it will be as if La Grange put in a store to sell paint then it decided to sell (now illegal) lead paint."

La Pidus, whose sandwich shop is located across the street from the long-vacant storefront, said his organization's opposition is supported by "hundreds" of other concerned residents,. business and property owners and "has nothing to do" with Grayson or "an impeachment" of his character.

"This issue has to do with the nature of the business he wants to open up," he said, referring his the efforts of he and others to spruce up the downtown from the virtual ghost town it was 20 years ago to the thriving upscale environment it has become. "We're trying to preserve that progress and grow that. Unfortunately, a pawn shop does not lend well to continuing that."

Self-proclaimed private property rights resident advocate David Beyer said a pawn shop would affect the "perception" of those who pass through the downtown in a negative way -- and actually offered to start a fund to help Grayson recover some of his lost investment if he takes his business elsewhere.

"They're just going the sign that says 'pawn shop' ... (but) this is not what we want in La Grange," said Beyer, even though Grayson vowed those words will not appear anywhere on his doors or windows. "I don't want a pawn shop in town and I'd be more than happy to contribute to a fund to help (Grayson) recover that investment."

Few other commissioners even raised an eyebrow before voting on the ban -- to be heard by the Village Board on Monday, July 13 -- but member Jeff Nowak clearly had his mind made up early on.

After challenging Grayson to explain just how he plans to conduct business and transactions, Nowak dealt him a blow to any chance of success for Grayson.

"The village of La Grange has made great strides in the past several decades to make this a Main Street U.S. A. and look how far the village has come," he said, calling on colleagues to endorse the staff recommendations concerning pawn shops and other uses because this is no close call.

"I simply can't support the existence of a pawn shop in our community ... and I simply can't buy into the notion a pawn shop would complement our business district," he said. "In my opinion it would be detrimental."

He further said the fact pawn shops are so regulated by the state legislature tends to "open up the market to illegally obtained items" which may be turned in for cash in La Grange.

Burkland, who specified that uses such as consignment and resale shops -- which are not regulated as such -- are an entirely different use in the zoning classification manual used by La Grange. Other recommended deletions from permitted uses would be used building materials and swimming pool stores.

Commission Chairman Stephen Randolph speculated afterward while there was no legal basis for his opinion, the village could just let the business open and operate then deny renewal of the license when it comes up for renewal.

However, the business still needs to meet building and fire codes, pass a law enforcement background check and be granted an occupancy permit before it can even open its doors.

Landlord John Brannen has been unavailable for comment.