Arlington Heights trustees concerned about stadium plans

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On Monday night, some trustees on the village board of Arlington Heights were unsatisfied with some facets of the Chicago Bears' stadium plans for Arlington Park during their meeting with the stadium committee.

"Trustees at the Committee of the whole meeting were concerned about the density of the proposed transit-oriented development, why there was not yet a stadium rendering available and about whether the proposed development would hurt Arlington Heights’ current downtown area," the Chicago Tribune reported.

There are growing concerns about the Bears multi-purpose district, which conflicts with the already existing downtown area Arlington Heights has at its disposal. 

RELATED: What we learned about Bears' Arlington Park plan at stadium meeting

The committee envisions the multi-purpose district having residential and commercial usage. The site is supposed to include hotels, gyms, restaurants, etc along with apartment buildings.

However, the board is unsure of whether or not they plan to move forward with the multitude of these ideas. 

“I am all in on getting this done for this redevelopment agreement, but I can’t buy into this site plan,” Trustee Jim Tinaglia said. “I can’t buy into what it means and how detrimental I think it will be for our businesses downtown.”

Transportation and access were conjoining issues the board had trouble grasping. 

The board was "surprised" the team didn't propose creating a second Metra station along with the current one. The team offered to enhance the existing train station to better facilitate traffic. 

Finally, the concern around public funding was discussed during the meeting. 

The Bears assured residents of Arlington Heights back in September they wouldn't use a penny of public funding for the stadium. But, they said the team will need financial assistance with creating the infrastructure around the area. 

To that, the village ascertains they aren't agreeing to public funding despite the overwhelming agreement for the redevelopment project. For them, they need to see how the area would benefit before promising any funds. 

"This agreement does not constitute any kind of agreement or obligation in any way for the village to provide or promote any public financing,” Village Manager Randy Recklaus said. "The village still has to realize that fiscal benefit."

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