Do corporations or residents control Oak Park’s development?
Last Tuesday, I attended a community meeting organized by QuikTrip, the company looking to install a mammoth gas station at the empty Mohr Concrete site in south Oak Park. QuikTrip hopes to erect this monstrosity a block from my home.
At the meeting, QuikTrip had pizza. QuikTrip had drinks. QuikTrip had confidence they could do whatever they wanted.
We mere residents, it seemed, couldn’t say a thing to dissuade them.
About 35 residents showed up to the meeting. Most were very angry; everyone was opposed to the gas station. Two young mothers who had recently bought homes next to the site told me they would move if the gas station is approved. They were fearful for their kids’ safety with increased traffic, fumes, and alcohol sales practically on their doorsteps.
I asked the QuikTrip representative, a young 20-something gentleman, if he expected community resistance to the proposal. “Yes, we did,” he said. He’d seen pushback on many of their projects.
I asked if any communities had successfully blocked a QuikTrip gas station. “Never,” he said, with a smirk. He told me that the Plan Commission and the Oak Park Village Board were essentially a rubber stamp for whatever QuikTrip wanted to do with the site.
I told him my understanding was that the village board can make a decision that reflects the best interests of the community.
“Nope,” he said. He was still smiling.
I was unsettled. All my neighbors believe this project will have a substantial adverse impact on our neighborhood. Nearly 500 people have signed a local petition against the site. People are distributing anti-QuikTrip flyers door-to-door. Many of us plan to speak at upcoming public hearings.
We wonder, can a massive corporation with a dirty environmental footprint take control of our village’s last piece of undeveloped land? Isn’t Oak Park a progressive, climate-friendly community? Is it true that a corporation has more of a voice in Oak Park’s development than village residents?
I suppose the answer to these questions is in the hands of Oak Park Plan Commission and the village board.
Antonio Ramirez
Oak Park