The Village Center Master Plan currently up for a vote by the Village Board represents a full frontal assault on private property rights.On the docket for the Jan. 25th Wilmette Village Board meeting.
Not a single private property owner was included on the Advisory Committee and, as testified to in the last Village Board meeting, no private property owners in the West Village center were consulted on the Master Plan.
Given the number of the private property owners in the West Village Center the only way the Master Plan can be implemented is through the use of eminent domain by condemning one person’s property and giving it to another person.
The Villages own consultants state in the Master Plan that it cannot be implemented without Village subsidies such as the use of a TIF district thus starving the schools, library and park district of needed funds.
And, again according to the Village’s own consultants, the Master Plan cannot begin to be implemented for at least another five years which means no new shopping opportunities for residents or any tax relief for homeowners.
Every resident and property owner in Wilmette should be concerned about the Village Boards policies including a moratorium on new development, constant zoning rewrites and the threat of condemnation resulting in uncertainty and a decades long trend of a deteriorating Village Center and a declining commercial tax base.
Mitchell H. Miller
Wilmette Village Center LLC
Remember what happened with Susette Kel0? They took her house away and now their pie in the sky project is an empty lot. And what about this previous genius project in Wilmette.
Back off, Wilmette. The party's over. Let private property be. Picking winners and losers is not the village forté. And can we stop paying pricey consultants every few years? The last time they did this they stacked their committee too. What a waste of taxpayers' hard-earned dollars, whether at the village, county, or state level.
Perhaps the village of Wilmette needs to be reminded of a few home truths. This is still America:
The personal right to acquire property, which is a natural right, gives to property, when acquired, a right to protection, as a social right.
The rights of persons, and the rights of property, are the objects, for the protection of which Government was instituted.Maybe they'll decide to expand and grab a few more choice properties, maybe a home or two in their way, who the hell knows.
The Village is abusing its powers to drive down property values and pick up property at fire sale prices.
Stop penalizing and robbing small businesses trying to make a living and pay their taxes like everyone else.
