A number of Lisle residents gathered last night to exercise their first Amendment right to express their views. We discussed the possibility that Navistar will (or won’t) move to our village. You can read this June 8 story:Navistar still hot topic at Lisle village board meeting. This meeting was preceded by numerous article in more widely read newspapers, including Goodbye, jobs run by the Chicago Tribune.
Having attended last night’s meeting, I would notethe tone of Navistar supporters was not primarily to blame the small number of residents who have been opposing Navistar’s proposed plans; everyone recognizes their First Amendment right to put their case forward. Rather, the goal of those who attended the meeting was communicate that this very small group of opponents does not speak for all of Lisle.
Many of us expressed our opinion that Navistar is an attractive business and we would like to see it settle in the long vacant site that once housed Lucent. It is very disappointing to see Navistar driven away.
I like Navistar. I grew up near International Harvester’s plant in Libertyville. It would be a dang shame if Navistar can’t find a place in Illinois. I’d like to see them in Lisle. So would many others.
Isn’t Navistar already in Illinois a little bit north of there?
Sounds like what I call “draw-bridge Democrats” here in my part of Florida, who pretty much say:
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“I don’t want industry, don’t want housing, don’t want roads, don’t want bridges, and don’t want schools…. I live here, and you don’t. I like how it is now, so you keep out. And no, I don’t care if people need jobs, you just just keep out!”
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Nice to know it is not just Florida.
Some years back I thought about moving my company’s production plant (in Louisiana) to Florida, near where I live. After a review of the local permitting process, it became clear that industry was not welcomed: endless approvals for every single industrial operation that would be carried out, special approvals for environmental impact, huge “infrastructure impact fees”, fire marshal approvals, police approvals, and of course, zoning board approvals… and all this for a 500 square meter operation on a site already zoned for light industry. Said I, “We are making laboratory instruments, not smelting copper. This is crazy; forget it.”
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I can understand Navistar’s decision.
Some parts of Navistar are already here. In fact, parts of Navistar have always been in Illinois. They wanted to bring their headquarters to Lisle and install a testing facility. This has been blocked and the portions of Navistar may now leave when they find the ultimate destination for their headquarters.
SteveF– I wouldn’t be entirely sure the people blocking Navistar are all Democrats. They are mostly people who live on the far edges of town. You know, the areas that are always the only place left for development!
In this case, Navistar wants to take over a building no longer used by Lucent. They also want to build an engine testing facility. In my opinion, next to I88, in an area that has housed businesses for a long time, but now abandonned is a good place to for Navistar.
I can also see why the location would be desirable. There employees could settle in their choice of Naperville, Lisle, Downers Grove and Wheaton, all with very good school districts, each with different strengths. All are within easy commuting distance of Chicago and have opportunities for two-income households to find jobs for which ever of the employess does not work for Navistar.
Unfortunately, it may well be much to late for something that would be a win-win situation for the vast majority of Lisle resident and most of DuPage county.
SteveF–
This particular zoning issue process is probably worse than what you encountered. There is some history; it involves Lisle specifically. The history involved a past board of trustees who did not provide sufficient opportunity for public comment. The case ended up in the courts getting to the Il. Supreme Court. (I’m not going into the details. It’s complicated.)
Anyway, that board got voted out. The new board has tended to bend over backwards to allow public comment. That part is good. But there may be aspects of this process that just went way to far on the public comment side.
I think for Navistar, the last straw might have been this:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=381448
Last night, one of the Lisle residents at the meeting made the point that the period of open comment has been long. We’ve had record numbers of hours of open comment and discussion. At some point the Lisle Board of Trustees has to vote.
SteveF,
I designed a concrete-industry industrial plant in the ’90s for a site in Miami-Dade County. Except possibly for the truck traffic carrying the product to market, there could hardly have been a more benign process.
It took over a year to get all the permits for this thing although the county was kind enough to let us start construction with a foundation permit so we could build while we were suffering through the process. And that is SUFFERING!
I subsequently did a sister plant – same process, same equipment, very close to same size in Maryland. Permitting there took 3 months and they actually asked me what they could do to help us along.
In later years, I helped in some location choosing for other industrial outfits every one of which initially looked at Florida and then went to Georgia or Texas.
I finally gave up and went to work for an outfit in Virginia so that I wasn’t living in a “no-build” zone any longer.
SteveF, do you commute?
Memory fault with above.
Maryland permitting was more like 3 to 4 weeks, not 3 months. It was a while back, and likely not possible today – and no cheating by the way.
j ferguson (Comment#45076)
“SteveF, do you commute?”
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Nope, haven’t commuted for >17 years, since I left the 8-5 world and worked independently… more profitable, less stress, and no a**hole bosses.
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Miami-Dade is a whole other world in terms of development. I live in Martin county, home of drawbridge Democrats (and some drawbridge Republicans as well…… the key word is “drawbridge”).
Get with the times. First amendment rights isn’t what foils factory placements. It’s our NIMBY rights under that modern legal innovation which we could call zoning rights.
SteveF. we went to sea. our earthly possessions occupy 5x5x8 locker in Stuart. Nice place, too.
now my brain has to make up stuff for nightmares.
much better.
Lucia, I live near Fort Wayne, IN, where a couple of my friends work in engineering for Navistar. Neither will relocate if the move to Lisle goes ahead, because of their roots in this area, as well as cost of living issues. I don’t like to root against you, but I’d prefer that Navistar keep its presence in Fort Wayne. However, I’m sure that if I lived in Lisle, I’d share your position, and not that of your local protestors.
Duane–
I can understand why people who love Fort Wayne and have roots there might not want to move here — or to Texas, Alabama or South Carolina where they might move if they don’t relocate here. But do let your friends know that if they moved here, plenty of people would welcome them.