Mayoral Candidate Defends Himself On Neighborhood Issue

ELMHURST, IL — Mayoral candidate Scott Levin takes exception to criticism that he "abandoned" residents who are concerned with a controversial proposal for two parking lots at Roberto's Ristorante and Pizzeria on Spring Road.

On Wednesday, Elmhurst Neighbors United announced on Facebook that it endorsed one of Levin's two opponents, Mark Mulliner, for mayor in the April 6 election. One of its leaders said its two Ward 5 aldermen, Levin and Tina Park, "abandoned us." Both deny that allegation, with Park calling it unfounded. (Michael Bram is the other mayoral candidate.)

Levin emailed Patch a lengthy explanation of his work on the issue since 2019 and forwarded emails that he said demonstrated his involvement. He said he has spent at least 75 hours on the topic.

In January 2019, he said he was first contacted by one of the Eggleston Avenue residents who was concerned about Roberto's purchase of two residential lots and possible expansion of its operations. Levin said he then involved another neighbor in the talks.

"From the very beginning, my goal was to attempt to negotiate a settlement of the dispute, which was difficult because, without assigning blame, the relationship between these two neighbors and Roberto’s had deteriorated. I told the neighbors that I would not bow to the will of Roberto’s and that I understood their concerns," Levin said.

Levin said he brought Roberto's into the discussions long before the restaurant submitted its parking lot application, which is undergoing hearings. He said he asked Roberto's for its parking lot plan, knowing whatever was presented would not be acceptable for the neighbors. But he said his intent was to get a proposal on the table, so the talks could start, saying he saw his role as mediator.

On July 22, 2019, a meeting was held at City Hall including him, neighbors, Roberto's owners, the restaurant's zoning attorney, Alderwoman Park and city staff.

"My goal was for Roberto’s to present its plan, after which the neighbors could respond and tell Roberto’s what they wanted, whether it be landscaping, additional footage of land for the neighbors, or even cash payments to offset what they believed would be a decrease in property value," Levin said.

At the meeting, Levin said, Roberto's presented its plan. Then Levin asked the neighbors to respond. An attorney for one of the neighbors asked questions about landscaping, including buffers, and flood control issues. But Levin said he wanted to get to the heart of the matter, so he asked the residents about their needs. The adult son of one of the residents said, "This attorney speaks for us."

Based on the direction that the attorney was handling the issue, Levin said, he did not make any further attempt to communicate with the neighbors.

In November 2020, Park was contacted by two of the neighbors. She brought Levin into the email chain, and one of the neighbors expressed surprise that the residents had not heard from him in some time.

"In early December, I talked with them to explain that I had not dropped out of the discussions, but that it was my understanding from the July 22 meeting that the attorney who attended on the neighbor’s behalf would be handling things, and I was waiting to hear from him," Levin said. "This neighbor did not know if the attorney represented them or not. I called that attorney, and he did not know who he was representing. He told me he would respond on that question, but despite several communications, he never did."

Also in early December, Levin said he received a call from the son of the neighbor, who told the alderman "not to have any contact with anyone represented by Elmhurst Neighbors United." Levin said that because he had never heard of that group, he tried to ask about it, but the son hung up and would not return his call.

On Dec. 14, Levin said that when he was turning in his nominating petitions for the mayoral race, he found out one of the residents contacted Mulliner about the issue. The resident's and Mulliner's daughters had attended school together. Levin spoke with Mulliner, who was also filing petitions. Levin said they agreed to set up a meeting with two adjacent neighbors and Roberto's. Each would call one of the neighbors, but they were unable to arrange a meeting because calls went unreturned. He said he and Mulliner agreed to contact each other if they heard anything more.

As it turned out, Levin said Mulliner met with the neighbors and Roberto's attorney two hours before the first Zoning and Planning Commission meeting on Jan. 20. He said Mulliner did not inform him of the meeting, despite the agreement.

Levin said he has not stated a position on Roberto's zoning application, saying it would be inappropriate to do so until all the parties have been heard during the zoning process. He said his significant involvement was before the application was filed.

On Thursday, the property manager for Wild Meadows Trace Town Home Association, which is near the restaurant, stated his concerns with Roberto's proposal in an email to Patch. And he criticized the involvement of Ward 5's aldermen, Levin and Park.

In the email, Mike Pusich, the property manager, said the association's residents are concerned with noise, traffic, light pollution, stormwater management and late-night activities that they say will result from the parking lots.

"This land is zoned residential and served as a buffer to the commercial property serving Spring Road," he said. "There was actually a judgment order placed on this property when it was subdivided from our property. This judgment order restricts development of the property and is the subject of much of the debate on how this property should be developed and what input residents in the area should have on that development."

Pusich said he learned of the development plans in October 2020 and immediately wrote Levin, Park and Mayor Steve Morley. He said he never heard from Park or Morley, but that Levin wrote a letter informing him where the proposal's documents could be found on the city's website and of the initial Jan. 20 hearing on the matter.

"To date, I have not met any of these individuals. This despite having attended numerous neighborhood meetings and all associated city meetings concerning the application. Essentially, our town home association has been ignored throughout the development of the plans by Roberto’s," Pusich said in the email.

The next hearing on the proposal is set for Tuesday.