Persistent Walgreens Not Waving White Flag Yet

The debate over the construction of a massive new Walgreens at Dempster Street and Crawford Avenue will soon perk up again as the drugstore giant tries to construct a store at the busy intersection.

However, it remains an uphill fight as there is still opposition to overcome.

"We will continue to work with the community to build a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly store that will serve Skokie residents for years to come," Walgreens said in a statement.

Deerfield-based Walgreens Co. received good news Feb. 22 at the Skokie Village Board meeting as trustees remanded the proposal for a new store back to the Plan Commission. It meant a second chance as the trustees rejected the first proposal amid traffic and safety concerns of nearby homeowners as well as the overall size of the project.

On Feb. 22, the trustees remanded the entire plan.  , a single section of the four-part proposal was sent back for further review by the Plan Commission.

The pending new storyline is another twist in a drama that has seen Walgreens continually modify its proposal in an effort to appease residents who live near the site. 

Since the rejection of the plan, Walgreens has altered the plan to eliminate such items as a right turn from a planned drive-through area. The turn would have put traffic onto Harding Avenue, which had alarmed many residents.

Also, company officials have been meeting with neighborhood residents on an individual basis to ease concerns about the proposed 13,000-square-foot store.

But residents like Mandel Feferman are going to be hard for the drugstore chain to win over.

“I believe the piece of property is too small,” said Feferman, who lives close to the site.  “Walgreens may end up losing business because people may want to avoid that intersection.”

Feferman was also disappointed about the lack of notification from the village board to residents about the reopening of discussions over matter. 

“You would think the village board would have let us know what this was coming up,” he said.

Trustee Randall Roberts notes board agendas are posted on the village's website every Thursday before meetings, and what trustees did on Feb. 22 was a minor move. Under an ordinance, residents will be formally notified by the Plan Commission about the March 17 meeting, at which the topic is scheduled for discussion.

“What we did was a technical vote,” Roberts said. “All the neighbors will have at least two public opportunities to comment.”

However, Walgreens still needs to win over a majority of the village trustees, who in of the Plan Commission and the village staff in January to allow construction of the store.

Roberts, the lone vote for the proposal in January, was pleased to see the plan had received additional changes.

“I think this will make it a better plan and project,” he said. “In hindsight while I voted yes, I am happy to see these developments.  This will be a project more in harmony with the neighborhood and improve traffic safety.”