Edward Don Gets Go-Ahead on Construction it Started Last Week

As Thursday night's village board meeting continued into the fourth hour, Trustee Greg Abbott moved to table the discussion of turning land along Woodward Avenue into a business park so village trustees could digest the information and talk with residents. 

This proposal met with applause from the 50 residents attending the meeting, not one of whom had spoken in favor of the project. 

None of the other three trustees seconded the motion, so it failed. A female resident then stormed out of the room, shouting, "Fixed! Fixed! Fixed!" 

When the village board then went on to approve the plan 3-1 (not counting Mayor William F. Murphy's vote, which would make it 4-1), one man in the audience started to clap slowly with a smirk on his face. 

Residents could be heard saying, "Who gives a crap?" and "This is bullsh*t." 

From the village's standpoint, officially welcoming Edward Don & Company to build its corporate headquarters and distribution facility accomplishes village goals to attract businesses and diversify the tax base. 

The village anticipates Edward Don & Company will generate $39 million in sales tax revenue in the next 30 years, 25 percent of which will be rebated back to the company as part of

It's also the beginning of an 80-acre business park in the area, a better use of the property than the general office use and multi-family housing it was zoned for years ago, village officials said. 

"We put a moratorium on muti-family housing in the village for a good reason," Mayor William F. Murphy said. 

The office and warehouse combo cuts down on the number of daily car trips that would be added by pure office space employees getting to and from work, village officials insisted. 

But residents were angry over construction starting last week before the village board and the impression that the process was a done deal completed without their input. They spoke of walls vibrating from the noises on Woodward Avenue, children unable to sleep because of it and of buying homes to enjoy the view of the fields across the street.

Read more: How the village said the development affects traffic, noise levels, wildlife, property values and more. 

The approximately 50 residents who packed the audience, stood alongside the wall for hours or watched outside in the village lobby in an overfill space were worried about noise, traffic, safety, property values and whether the development had been a done deal from the start. 

Many voiced support for the company but said this was the wrong place for them to move in.

One resident said to the village board, "We voted for you. Please be our voice. Please listen to us." 

The tension began to rise and frustration put an edge on the voices of both Trustee Greg Abbott and Mayor Murphy. During the village trustees' opportunity to ask questions, this exchange took place: 

Trustee Gregory Abbott asked when box trucks (24-foot trucks, think UPS trucks) would be travelling north on Woodward Avenue. Mays said between 3 and 7 a.m. and 2 to 6 p.m. 

"3 to 6 a.m.?" Abbot said. "I guess those people can't sleep with the windows open, then?"

"There will be an opportunity for comments later, Trustee." Murphy said. 

"I'll keep it to questions then." 

Abbott and Murphy were the only village officials to make impassioned arguments against and for the plan, respectively. 

Abbott said the process was unfair to residents, some of whom heard about the village meeting last minute. He questioned why there was nothing on the village website about the project and why nothing was said at last week's Town Meeting (Murphy responded that the village table at the Open House did have information on the development). 

Abbott said the amount of tax revenue the village will receive is not worth the burden the business park will place on nearby residents. 

"For $214,000 (the amount in sales tax the village will receive from Edward Don during the first year only) of $39 million (the village's annual budget), that's no benefit," Abbott said.

"It's unconscionable...I don't think it's fair to residents who put money into their houses. We're selling them out for $214,000...It's a great deal for McShane and Gallagher & Henry and a lousy deal for the people." 

Murphy said the Internationale Center business park is adjacent to some residential areas, and he has never had someone come up to him in the supermarket and say something negative about dropping property values. 

"In the eyes of many people this is less intense," Murphy said. "Many people have asked, 'How would you like this in your backyard?' I live up the street on the same side in Water Tower Reserves near Prairieview Lane."

That location puts Murphy right on the edge of the final phase of the business. When the building is built, he'll be right next door.  

"I'm not the least bit concerned," he said. 

Developers have said it could take between three to 10 years, or more, to build out the entire business park.

After almost four hours of discussion, presentations and hearing from residents, every trustee save Abbott voted for the plan (Trustees Joseph Kagann and David Pittinger were absent). Mayor Murphy also voted and was in favor. 

This is what they said about voting yes: 

Gina Cunningham-Picek: "I took the facts, all the information. I did read every single page. It's a benefit to the community. I appreciated what the mayor said because he does live in the neighborhood and I appreciated that he ended it on that note. I understand the feelings and emotions of residents."

Pamela Beavers: "It was the overall proposal. I looked at the concerns in the transcript and I thought staff adequately addressed those issues, like noise, the setback, the aesthetic buffering, traffic flow. From what options we had to put there, thi was the best option with what we had." 

Anne Banks: When asked for comment, Banks said she was tired and Patch should call her in the morning.