Glencoe residents fight to save home — but plans meet Village code

Neighbors of a long-standing Glencoe home that faces a wrecking ball are rallying against its demolition, urging local officials for stronger preservation measures in response to what they’re calling the “wrong outcome for our block.”

Several residents of Oakdale Avenue took to the lectern during the Village Board meeting on Thursday night, Oct. 15, each of them expressing sharp criticism of an ongoing proposal that they say “represents the gradual loss of existing homes, mature landscape and architectural diversity” in town.

The proposal that has caught neighbors’ ire is a plan to raze the decades-old residence at 452 Oakdale Ave. and replace it with two new homes on the property, according to village documents.

During the committee reports portion of Thursday night’s meeting, Village Trustee Dudley Onderdonk, who is the board’s representative on Glencoe’s Historic Preservation Commission, confirmed those plans, saying it’s anticipated that two new homes will be constructed on the underlying parcels.

The property was subdivided previously, according to Onderdonk, who added that as late as the early 1950s there were two homes on the site. Onderdonk also noted that the existing subdivision of the parcel was originally created in the late 1880s.

Documents submitted to the village show that a demolition application for the home was submitted in mid-August of this year. Those same records show the closing on the sale of the property occurred at the end of September.

Neighbors, at both the Oct. 6 preservation meeting and the Oct. 15 Village board meeting, were united in opposition to the two-homes plan.

Jessica Mavrogenes — who is a member of Glencoe’s Historic Preservation Commission and also lives on Oakdale — said more than 40 residents have signed a petition expressing their disapproval of the project.

And although the home is not landmarked and does not meet Glencoe’s criteria for historical significance, the home does “contribute to our streetscape through its mature trees, generous setbacks and scale,” Mavrogenes said.

Mavrogenes continued that the pending demolition of 452 Oakdale is not “an isolated concern.”

“It represents the gradual loss of existing homes, mature landscape and architectural diversity, one property at a time,” she said.

Courtney Lewis, who said she lives next to 452 Oakdale, told the board she had “deep and urgent concerns regarding the proposed demolition of our neighbors’ historic home.”

“By tearing down these structurally sound, beautiful older homes that give our town its unique charm and replacing them with crammed, densely packed, multi-unit footprints, we’re rapidly losing the historic character that drew us all to this neighborhood in the first place,” Lewis told trustees.

She went on to describe the project as “overdevelopment” that she argued “directly prices out new generations from the North Shore, which is already nearly unattainable for a lot of young families.”

Jamie Simpson, who has lived in Glencoe for more than 30 years, said it was the village’s charm that drew her and her family to the village. She told the board that the town is slowly losing that charm.

“These builders are changing the character of Glencoe one application at a time and we are not paying attention to the cumulative effect it is having on our village,” she said. “We can have progress without sacrificing the character and charm of Glencoe.”

The proposed demolition could also put a more than 100-year-old heritage tree at risk.

Several residents who commented Thursday night urged the village to further explore stronger preservation measures, for both homes and heritage trees, while some even asked officials to consider establishing architectural review standards for new construction in the village.

In an atypical move following public comment, Village President Howard Roin took time to directly address some of the residents’ comments.

Roin said he appreciated the “constructive, thoughtful comments” but noted that the board was not “in a position to make you happy tonight.”

That’s due to the fact that the proposal to demolish 452 Oakdale and build the two new homes is done by right, meaning that the project is in line with current village code, not needing the Village Board nor its advisory boards to approve variations or exceptions.

Roin told the public that the village, when considering residential zoning, does not think about tax revenue or helping developers, but, he added, “we do recognize that if someone owns a house in Glencoe and they want to sell it, that’s a huge asset for them and they often want to make as much as they can.”

Regarding the potential of some kind of architectural approval, Roin expressed caution.

“If the residents in this village really want us to do that, we’ll certainly think about it, but … one of the best, most exhilarating part of Glencoe’s streetscape is our Frank Lloyd Wright area” Roin said, adding that “if we had architectural approval, that wouldn’t exist, because it would have been considered weird and avant-garde.”

“We’re going to listen and we’re going to think about it, but I am personally reluctant to tell people how to design their houses,” Roin added.

He concluded by saying: “We’ve heard you. Your comments were all thoughtful. I understand why you care.”

As previously reported by The Record, updated preservation measures in the village will take effect starting Jan. 1, 2027.

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