Friends and Neighbors,

We regret to inform you that we lost our fight against the development at 4915-4923 Main Street. Demolition of the existing buildings has already started. Although it is not the outcome we wanted or deserved, we are so grateful for having you with us for the fight.

Witnessing the Village’s approval process for Main St. gave us a sad lesson in unaccountable governance. I and my neighbors were shocked that the village would grant concessions (removal of setback requirements) for the developer that were clearly against the wishes of all the immediate neighbors and 1k+ residents of Downers Grove. Not once did Mayor Barnett meet with the impacted neighbors to justify his decision. At one of the council meetings, a commissioner stated that they had to approve the development or other developers wouldn’t want to work in Downers Grove.  This servile mindset from the Mayor and Council reveals a village government that is far too pro-developer to consider the opinions of all stakeholders. Main St. is not the only victim of this kind of thinking; we have seen it with similar rulings favoring developers, such as the apartments on Maple and Main, twelve large homes at Longfellow, and another McNaughton development.

If we want anything to change, we need to change the people in charge of our local government, which is why we are enthusiastically supporting Marshall Schmitt in his campaign for mayor of Downers Grove.  Marshall spoke out against the Main St. development and others at multiple plan commission and council meetings. He believes in responsible development that adheres to the spirit of the comprehensive plan. Most importantly, Marshall has pledged to open up the deliberation process, making certain that residents who will be impacted by a new project can fully express their concerns earlier enough to make a difference.

If you are interested in learning more about Marshall’s campaign, please visit:  marshallformayor.com where you can volunteer, donate, sign up for a yard sign, or leave your feedback.  Every little bit you can do will help us—as Marshall would say—in “building our future while honoring our past.” We look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you for all your support!