A Montessori school is looking to return to Park Ridge in a building on Peterson Avenue that it would expand and remodel.
Brickton Montessori School presented conceptual plans to the Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission on June 11, outlining a proposal to demolish an existing office building at 1410 W. Higgins Road and use the building behind it at 1411 Peterson Ave. A parking lot with a roundabout would replace the offices that face Higgins, the proposal said.
But the city’s Higgins Corridor Plan, adopted in 2010, calls for an office or mixed-use development on the property, which is located east of Mr. K Garden and Material Center and south of a residential area. Planning and Zoning Commissioner Jim Argionis noted that a school would be “outside the spirit and intent” of the development plan, but said he was “torn” between following the vision of the corridor plan and supporting the school, which he said could draw other development.
“If we were to get additional [public] benefits for the city, I might be persuaded,” Argionis said.
A drawback would be the potential loss of property tax on the land. Representatives of Brickton Montessori indicated that the school is a nonprofit, and Planning and Zoning Commissioner Clayton Hutchinson said it would be exempt from paying local property taxes on land it owns.
Attorney Anastas Shkurti, representing Brickton, said the current properties at 1410 Higgins Road and 1411 Peterson Avenue generate about $5,000 in property taxes to the city and, in 2017, generated $22,420 in taxes to Park Ridge-Niles School District 64.
Brickton Montessori, which is located less than a mile south of Higgins Road at 8622 W. Catalpa Ave. in Chicago, attempted unsuccessfully to relocate to Park Ridge 19 years ago. The planning and zoning commission denied a request from the school to convert an office building at 315 S. Northwest Highway into classroom use.
At the time, several residents objected to the property being removed from the tax rolls, the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate reported, and several townhouses have been built there since..
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Shkurti said there are 153 students enrolled at Brickton, with 34 from Park Ridge. Principal Cheryl LaCost said she anticipates the number of Park Ridge children will increase if Brickton relocates, saying a renovated and revitalized school will be “a magnet” for parents looking at educational options.
LaCost said Brickton Montessori began 30 years ago in the basement of St. Anselm’s Episcopal Church, which was located at 1600 N. Greenwood Ave. in Park Ridge.
“We would love to come back to Park Ridge, to our roots,” LaCost said. “We continually have had a large contingent of Park Ridge families.”
No action was taken by the planning and zoning commission, and City Planner Jon Branham said the development team has the option of returning with a revised concept plan if more input from the commission is sought.
A planned development application would need to be approved by the planning and zoning commission and Park Ridge City Council before the school could develop the properties.
jjohnson@chicagotribune.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune