Skokie Park District leaders OK land swap pact with synagogue
In a narrow vote, Skokie Park District commissioners gave their approval to a land swap deal that would allow a neighboring synagogue to build a parking lot on a portion of what was park land.
The Skokie Park District Board of Commissioners on Nov. 16 voted 3-2 in favor of the swap with Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie. The deal will give the synagogue a portion of Park District land at Seneca Park so an 18 to 20 space parking lot can be built across an alley from the synagogue.
In return, Lubavitch Chabad will give the Park District a portion of its land that would change the L-shaped park into more of a square. The synagogue would pay for any changes and the Park District will end up gaining a bit more land in the swap, officials have said.
“They are part of the community and we’re trying to work with them,” said Mike Reid, vice president of the Skokie Park District Board of Commissioners.
Reid voted in favor of the proposal.
“We can’t loose any park land. In fact, we stand to gain a little,” Reid said. “This is helping out a neighbor and we’re allowed to do it.”
But people living near Seneca Park have raised concerns throughout the discussion. They argue that just because the Park District is allowed to complete the land swap, it doesn’t mean it should.
“It was a land grab,” said Leslie Riley, who has lived across from Seneca Park for 20 years. “It felt that way.”
Lubavitch Chabad Rabbi Yosef Posner could not be reached for a comment after the vote. He previously said the synagogue proposed the swap because it will free up street parking around the building and is therefore good for the neighborhood.
“We believe it’s good for the neighbors,” Posner said in an interview last week. “It’s a proposal we brought up out of goodness, and kindness and neighborliness.”
Posner said he has received hate mail from people who believe the synagogue is attempting a land grab.
“There’s been misinformation about it,” he said.
The Illinois Park District Code forbids the selling of park land, but there is not anything in the code preventing a land swap like the one approved in Skokie, Reid said.
He added that anyone opposed to the plan can protest to the village’s Plan Commission and the Skokie Village Board because both of those bodies have to sign off on the relocation of an alley, which needs to happen for the parking lot to be built.
“They have every right to do that,” Reid said. “If the village says ‘no’ than that’s the end of it. It’s dead.”
Riley said she has gathered 500 signatures on a petition that opposes the land swap. She said the park will not be the same if the lot is built and that allowing a parking lot to be placed on park land could set a dangerous precedent.
“It bothers me, just the lack of considerations of the opinions of the other population,” Riley said. “They gave us lip service that they took our concerns in mind as they made their decisions, but it never felt that way.”
The residents plan to make their opposition known to the Skokie Village Board, Riley said.