WC_042618

8 | April 26, 2018 | The winnetka Current news
winnetkacurrent.com
Northfield Village Board
From clothes to cash
Wintrust bank set
to open at longtime
Youngren Cleaners
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
Soon, Youngren Cleaners
will be out of its longtime
Northfield spot and a
Wintrust Community Bank
branch will be moving in to
the location at 1852 Willow
Road.
The Northfield Village
Board unanimously
approved a special-use
permit for Wintrust Community
Bank to construct
a bank branch with a drivethrough
facility and ATM
on the property at its Tuesday,
April 17 meeting.
The property is zoned
VC — Village Center —
in which drive-through facilities
and ATMs require a
special-use permit.
Prior to the board’s approval,
the Plan and Zoning
Commission voted
unanimously to recommend
approval of the project
on April 3. On April 7,
the Architectural Commission
voted unanimously to
recommend approval of the
project.
While there is no set date
yet for the bank’s grand
opening, hours of operation
are set to be 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-
1 p.m. Saturday, with the
drive-through ATM operating
on a 24-hour, 7-day-aweek
basis.
The project will include
a public vehicular connection
between Northfield
Road and Alice Place. The
vehicular connection will
include the west portion of
vacated Alice Place that is
currently owned by a third
party. The height of the
building will be 42 feet and
“I think that the bank has acted
in good faith in trying to work
with the neighbors.”
Joan Frazier — Northfield village president
on Wintrust Community Bank’s construction
requests for its new Northfield location
one story and will have 11
parking stalls.
The bank received variations
to the transitional yard,
drive-through facility, trash
enclosure and driveway requirements
contained in the
Zoning Code as part of the
approval of the special use.
The transitional yard variations
included a reduction
of the required transitional
yard from 30 feet to 5 feet
between the VC and R-4
districts, and to 14 feet between
the VC and R-6 Districts.
The driveway variation is
for the northern exit driveway
to be within 54 feet of
the Alice Place and Willow
Road intersection instead
of the minimum 65-foot
requirement. Trash can enclosers
are not permitted in
a front yard per the Zoning
Code, so a variation was
required for it to be located
within the front yard off
of Alice Place. The drivethrough
variations include
having two lanes above the
Zoning Code requirement
of one lane and the location
of the drive-through speakers
are 74 feet from the adjacent
R-6 District below the
minimum 100-foot Zoning
Code requirement from a
residential zoning district.
Village President Joan
Frazier was pleased with the
way the bank will fit in with
the surrounding buildings.
“It’s a beautiful project,”
she said. “I appreciate the
way you’ve echoed some of
the newer buildings down
there, like the Dunkin’ Donuts
building and the Walgreens
store, and some of
the other shops in the area.
I appreciate that effort and
it shows and it looks great.”
Frazier also commended
the bank for the way it
worked with the neighbors.
“I think that the bank has
acted in good faith in trying
to work with the neighbors,”
she said. “I’ve seen
more evidence of that here
than any other development
in recent memory.”
Multiple trustees praised
the bank for making the
most of the space of the
property.
“I know this wasn’t the
easiest site in terms of the
size and shape of the property,
and I think you made
the most of it and really did
an excellent job,” Trustee
John Gregorio said. “I
commend you on that.”
Trustee John Goodwin
agreed.
“I studied the plans and
given the space that was
given to you and what’s currently
there, it’s just magnificent,
I think,” he said.
Trustee Tom Terrill was
happy with the addition of
the bank to the Village’s
downtown.
“It’s very attractive and
will add to our downtown,”
Terrill said.
Winnetka Village Council
Popular math tutoring franchise
finds a new home in Winnetka
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
A Mathnasium is coming
to Winnetka.
At its Tuesday, April 17
regular meeting, the Winnetka
Village Council acted
on the recommendation
of the Plan Commission
and passed an ordinance
granting a special use permit
to Steve Santacruz to
establish Mathnasium, a
math tutoring franchise
center, at 1060 Gage St.
Previously, yarn shop
Rib and Stitch occupied
the 900-square-foot building.
Now, the Winnetka
tutoring center will serve
second- through twelfthgrade
students and will
join a network of Mathnasiums
established by
Santacruz. He operates
other facilities in Kenilworth,
Glenview and
Lake Forest on the North
Shore, another in Naperville
and four in California.
“We do an assessment
to find the gaps and then
develop an individualized
curriculum,” Santacruz
told The Current. “The
kids don’t use computers.
We teach mental math and
numerical fluency.”
He plans to open the
Mathnasium in Winnetka
in early June and expects
to have 10-15 students on
a rotating basis served by
a staff of about 12 employees.
During the summer,
hours of operation will
be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday
and during
the school year, 3-7 p.m.
Monday-Friday and 10
a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and
Sunday.
Update on bridge
replacement project
Steve Saunders, director
of public works/village
engineer, gave the village
council an update on the
Oak Street and Cherry
Street bridge replacement
project and received approval
to proceed to the
next phase.
Saunders said Phase I
is now complete and the
project has received preliminary
design approval
from the Federal Highway
Administration that will
allow Phase II, which entails
the preparation of superstructure
replacement
plans, specifications and
cost estimates.
The project qualifies for
federal funds and the design
is eligible for an 80
percent reimbursement.
Receiving the federal
assistance entails entering
into a local public agency
agreement with the Illinois
Department of Transportation
and a preliminary engineering
services agreement.
The council approved
both the IDOT agreement
and the preliminary engineering
agreement with
Baxter & Woodman Inc.,
the engineering design
firm that completed Phase
I.
Up to $248,672 of the
Phase II project will be
paid for by the federal
grant, and up to $62,168
will be paid by the Village.
Motor fuel tax funds
will be used to pay the Village’s
portion.
Winnetka presents annual
Green Awards
The council presented
Winnetka Green Awards
for demonstrating “exceptional
commitment to sustainable
and environmentally-friendly
practices”
to Dave Bawden and his
wife, Jan, who live at 129
DeWindt Road, and to
the Winnetka Community
House.
The Winnetka Community
House was cited for
replacement of more than
2,500 incandescent bulbs
with LEDs, reducing the
Community House’s annual
energy needs by
an estimated 314,000
kilowatt hours for an annual
savings of about
$37,000. In addition, initial
costs were reduced
by $25,600 through an Illinois
Municipal Energy
Agency incentive rebate,
a savings of about 90
percent.
It is expected that the
replacement of the bulbs
with the LEDs will reduce
the Winnetka Community
House’s carbon footprint
by 251 tons.
Mark Schusteff, the
Winnetka Community
House’s facility operations
manager, and Mike
Landers, maintenance
manager, accepted the
award on behalf of Executive
Director Bob Thomas.
Dave and Jan Bawden
were honored for improving
drainage and
water retention on their
property and, in the
process, enhancing its
beauty.
The couple’s project entailed
building a series of
dry river beds to re-route
the flow of water coming
down the road.