Glencoe Park District issued the following announcement on July 31.
The Village of Glencoe Planning Commission has slated the Park District's request to subdivide the private residence (the Linden House) off park property at the August 22 Plan Commission meeting. As part of the process, the Park District was required to post a notice on the property.
The Park Board of Commissioners has determined that it is not the Glencoe Park District’s mission to use taxpayer funds to manage rental property or provide housing for staff. The Board directed staff to pursue the subdivision process, separating the private residence at 233 Linden from the park parcel. This gives the Board the flexibility to sell the property at their discretion. This property is currently not available for public use and is vacant.
Proceeds from the sale of the property will go into the Park District’s Capital Improvement Fund for future improvements of park district property. The discussion on how to disperse these funds are discussed yearly and are based on information gained from the District's Master Plan, which included a community survey.
In the past, the Park District required management staff to live in Glencoe. With the technology of cell phones and the ability to access information remotely, the District no longer requires the Executive Director to live in Glencoe. For the past five years, the District has earned income from the property as a rental home. In order to continue to rent the house, the Park District would need to devote a significant amount of resources to maintaining and restoring the house. The Board strongly feels that taxpayer funds should not be used to continue to maintain and restore the residence. In addition, a significant amount of staff time is used when the house is rented, which the Board feels is not a good use of staff time.
This house is in a residential area, the last in a long string of houses. The Glencoe Park District exceeds the standard for park space in that area, so the Board decided to use the sale proceeds to improve other park district property. The Park District is not selling parkland, but subdividing the house to parcel off the park. The area will meet the Villages standard for residential lot size. The rest of the property will remain parkland.
Questions or concerns should be directed to info@glencoeparkdistrict.com.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Glencoe Park District
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