Darien Apartments OK'd In Emotional Meeting

DARIEN, IL — The Darien City Council on Monday approved a controversial apartment complex, with the mayor casting the tie-breaking vote.

In so doing, the council rejected a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission, which voted 7-1 against the proposal.

The debate over the project was heated, with at least a couple of aldermen upset over written comments they deemed derogatory toward renters. One said some comments came off as racist and classist.

During public input at the council meeting, residents said the four-story building was too large for the property in question. It is planned for the southeast corner of South Frontage Road and Sokol Court, east of the Extended Stay America hotel.

They also objected to the proposed building's height, its closeness to a children's park and the effects on drainage.

They also questioned the need for apartments in that spot.

"People will not pay $2,700 to live in an apartment in a building in a field next to a hotel facing a noisy expressway with no amenities," neighbor Annie Shea said. "They will go to places like Downers Grove that have all the amenities."

In 2005, the council approved a condominium development for the property. However, the new developer, Paul Swanson of Mount Prospect-based Paul Swanson Associates, wanted apartments, saying they were more in demand than condos. He promised they would be upscale.

Aldermen, however, focused on written comments in which people suggested condo owners are preferable over renters for the city. One commenter said, "There will be a revolving door of transient people in and out of Darien that are NOT invested in our community."

Alderman Joe Kenny said he was hearing from some residents that "renter" is almost a derogatory term.

"If Mr. Swanson was able to get financing to put condominiums in there, we wouldn't be having this discussion tonight," he said.

"You're 100 percent right," a man from the audience yelled out.

Kenny replied, "That tells me we're going to discriminate on homeowner vs. renter."

In general about the apartment building, Kenny said, "I don't think this is a bad project. I really don't."

A man in the audience objected to the mention of discrimination.

"We're not against renters. We're against the color of the building, the height of the building," he said.

Alderman Tom Belczak said he has heard from people that the apartment building would be ugly, but he said beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

"If you're appalled by the monstrosity of the apartment building, then I assume you're appalled by the monstrosity of the (nearby) Oakmont Way condos," he said.

Alderman Lester Vaughan said when he was preparing for the issue over the weekend, he was embarrassed and disappointed by the written comments against the apartments.

"I felt some of the comments in the emails came off as really derogatory. The tone in those statements, they came off to be kind of racist, and it promoted a level of classism that Darien is not proud of," said Vaughan, the council's only African American. "I believe renters and owners can co-exist together. I believe renters contribute to our community. With this multi development, I think it adds value to the bottom line of Darien."

Members of the audience protested. A man walked out in anger, announcing, "I'm leaving." Another resident said the apartment building should be put in Vaughan's ward.

"I welcome it," the alderman said.

Vaughan added residents provided no data to back up their assertions that the apartments would hurt their property values and add blight to the city.

"What we fail to recognize is that renters go through background checks, credit checks, just like you as an owner. They have skin in the game when they come here," Vaughan said.

Alderwoman Mary Sullivan, whose ward includes the project in question, said Vaughan did an "excellent" job in recapping his feelings about the project.

She said it was important to remember that the council cannot let the issue of owning vs. renting guide its decision.

"As a city, we zone the use of land, not the users of land," she said.

Both Sullivan and Alderman Eric Gustafson said the project was too dense for the land in question. Gustafson added he would have voted against the original condo proposal in 2005 if he had been on the council then.

Just as Mayor Joseph Marchese was ready to call the vote, resident Annie Shea spoke up again, in an apparent response to Vaughan's statement that some written comments came off as racist.

"Our whole neighborhood is so diverse. We have people from every race, creed, color, sexual orientation. We all get along. It's like a little Mayberry. Everyone says hi. What we're scared of is they (Swanson's company) are not a team player," she said. "We've all been renters, and it's not that."

When the council took the vote, it split 3-3 on the project — with Vaughan, Belczak and Ted Schauer in favor and Sullivan, Kenny and Gustafson against. Tom Chlystek was absent.

When the clerk announced that Mayor Marchese needed to break the tie, audience members groaned.

Marchese said he attended all the meetings about the apartments and heard all the residents' testimony.

"A lot of my feeling is in the same vein as Alderman Vaughan and some of the other aldermen," he said.

The mayor voted in favor, making the tally 4-3.

Perhaps the most surprising vote was Kenny's. He had said it was not a bad project, but voted against it. He did so after thinking a few seconds.

Asked Tuesday about his vote, Kenny said it was a tough decision, but did not want to comment further.