Walgreens Wins Second Chance at Skokie Site

After being , the Deerfield-based company will have a second opportunity to make its case to trustees. That is because the Skokie Plan Commission, with the support of the village staff, overwhelmingly supported Walgreens revised proposal at its Thursday night meeting, which was contentious at times.  The amended plan includes a new traffic pattern surrounding the proposed store and its drive-through so cars will be discouraged from or unable to exit onto residential streets.

The proposal was broken into five separate measures to allow construction on the southeast corner of Dempster and Crawford. All aspects of the plan received unanimous approval of the planning board, with the exception of the construction of a drive-through that drew the opposition of commissioner Morton Paradise.

“It’s a blighted area, this is going to be an improvement to the site plan,” said commissioner David Marek.

The matter now goes back to the village trustees. Community Development Director Pete Peyer said the matter could be placed in front of the trustees in April.

Specifically, the proposed building at the northeast corner of Dempster and Crawford will be 13,125 square feet on a 42,000-square-foot parcel. While it will only be one story, it will stand 22-24 feet high, making it the equivalent of several multistory buildings.

Under the plan, the existing shopping center would be torn down as well as a single-family home at 8742 Harding Ave. Remaining at the center of the controversy is a drive-through for the proposed drugstore. Village staff predicts at the busiest hours, the drive-through service will handle 10-15 cars an hour.    

To try and ease some of the traffic concerns, a team of architects and traffic engineers announced a new system for cars using the drive-through. Drivers will be directed westbound through a 22-foot alley onto Crawford, thus they will be unable to turn onto Harding Avenue. This had been a major source of consternation in the previous plan as residents along Harding were concerned about excess traffic coming onto that avenue.

Walgreens is also promising additional trees and signage to prevent cars from making illegal turns into the community. Company representatives also said they are working with the Illinois Department of Transportation to eventually have new sidewalks, streetlights and crosswalks at the intersection as well as a re-timed traffic signal. In addition, there were promises of that sketch of Dempster would be reconfigured for additional traffic considerations.

“We have taken that plan, incorporated your suggestions and improved that plan greatly,” said Edwin Vdovets, a real estate developer representing Walgreens at the meeting. “I don’t stand before you naïve enough to believe I will have everyone’s support on the Harding Avenue block, but that didn’t stop me from trying.”

Still, some residents who live near the property once again raised objections to the plan.

“The notion that people are only gong to go 15 mph is absurd,” said Irv Funk. “The alley will become a thoroughfare.”

He also called the drive-through as "silly."

“This is going to bring a lot more traffic into the neighborhood, which is quite residential,” added Jim Nasby, who cautioned the village might lose real estate taxes if the nearby residential property loses value.

However, there was one resident who spoke up in favor of the proposal. 

“It is good for Skokie because when someone who sees a nice state-of-the-art facility, they might have an inclination to build something else,” said Eugene Salganik. “We should embrace this development. This is a positive thing.”

Burton Ring, an attorney for the owner of property that has a Walgreens at Dempster and Karlov Avenue, said the proposed project is a violation of the existing comprehensive plan. Walgreens intends to leave that property if and when the new store opens just a few block to the east.

But Steve Marciani, a village planning supervisor, sharply countered, saying that sketch of Dempster was not included in the municipality's comprehensive plan.