Glencoe Board of Trustees

Howard Roin

Joe Halwax

Georgia Mihalopoulos

Dudley Onderdonk

Michael Rosenblat

Gary Ruben

Hilary Scott

675 Village Court

Glencoe, IL 60022

Dear Howard, Joe, Georgia, Dudley, Michael, Gary, and Hilary,

Along with several other residents, I addressed the Board during public comment at the May 21 Board of Trustees meeting regarding historic preservation. We expressed support for the incentives being discussed but argued that more needs to be done. We proposed adopting incentives and regulations that most of our neighboring villages have in place already.

While we applaud the approval of preservation incentives for landmarked homes, we feel they can and should go further. For example, the increase in maximum allowable setback reduction and GFA variation limit should be available to all historic homes past a certain age, not just landmarks which constitute less than 100 homes in Glencoe. A few years ago, Winnetka started offering its historic homeowners a one-time 20% increase in the maximum permitted GFA to incentivize preservation and modernization of older homes that are not necessarily landmarks. According to their Preservation Commission, this has been an effective incentive.

We are encouraged that Glencoe is joining our neighbors by imposing a demolition fee. However, the proposed fees ($3,000 for regular homes, $5,000 for honorary landmarks) fall drastically short of what most of our peers charge for demolitions. In Winnetka, the demolition fee is $16,070. In Kenilworth it is $10,000. In Lake Forest it is $12,000. In Highland Park they charge a $15,000 demolition tax, as well as a $750 demolition permit fee. Our neighbors also impose stricter demolition and new construction recycling requirements, and longer demolition delays for significant properties.

Accordingly, we feel that our fees for renovation and addition permits should be lowered to match our peers. Glencoe has the highest renovation/addition permit fee of our neighbors, at 3.5% of the total construction cost. Kenilworth and Winnetka charge 3%, Wilmette charges 2.016%, Highland Park charges 1%. Glencoe is also the only town on the North Shore that assesses new construction permit fees on a square footage basis. All our peer communities charge a percentage of the total construction cost. 

The cost of maintaining an older home is an ongoing problem, particularly for seniors. We believe Glencoe should legalize ADUs on historic properties. This change would add tremendous value to older homes and bring Glencoe into compliance with Governor Pritzker’s “Building Up Illinois Developments” (BUILD) initiative, which was announced in February of this year.

We also believe modifying the FAR and GFA calculations will result in more cohesive neighborhoods. Many new constructions in Glencoe are so large they look out of proportion with their lot sizes. Perhaps changing the FAR code entirely or simply including basements and cellars in the total floor area allowance would result in appropriately sized homes for their lots. 

Additionally, excluding non-buildable land when determining maximum GFA would be a logical change. Glencoe does not allow homes to be built in the ravine (thankfully). Therefore, lots on the ravine should have ravine land subtracted from their GFA calculation.

We know that this is a complex issue, but doing more to address it is both possible and necessary. Every year we lose more of our historic housing stock, which is a unique asset. Every year smaller and more affordable homes are replaced with oversized, prohibitively expensive ones, making it difficult if not impossible for young families to buy a home here.

We are not asking or expecting the Board to tell someone who they can or cannot sell their home to. We are not asking the Board to abridge property rights. We are asking for a more level playing field between builders and regular homeowners. We appreciate that the the board has taken a step in the right direction with regards to historic preservation, but there is still a long way to go. We would like the opportunity to share research, ideas, and the perspectives of our group members with the Board at one of our meetings.

Thank you,

Clare Rosean

Ashley Kain Spector