She opposed a next-door zoning change, but generally favored one in another neighborhood.
CLARENDON HILLS, IL – In 2022, Clarendon Hills resident Denise Kavuliak led residents who objected to a proposed daycare in her neighborhood.
It was literally going to be in her backyard.
The daycare never happened.
In February, Kavuliak was appointed to a vacant position on the Village Board. She can now vote on zoning.
In a controversial zoning matter last month, Kavuliak did not take a similar approach. She said she was fine with a zoning change, despite neighbors’ protests.
In June 2022, she and her husband made their position clear on the next-door development proposal. In an email to the zoning board, they opposed changing the single-family residential zoning for 421 Park Ave. to allow a daycare.
They presented a petition with 27 signatures from neighbors. Despite the zoning, the Park Avenue property has long been the site of a chiropractor’s office.
In the letter, Kavuliak, who lives in the 400 block of Colfax Avenue, said her understanding upon moving there in 2007 was that once the existing business closed, no other ones would open at the location.
She said the proposal for a daycare would extend commercial zoning, thus increasing traffic, the building size and noise.
The area in question, Kavuliak said, had been prone to major flooding.
“How would a larger building affect this issue? Most likely, it will make the problem worse,” she said.
Now, townhomes are planned for the Park Avenue property. The developer hopes to break ground in November.
Last month, Kavuliak was the lone dissenting vote against a four-story condo complex at 104 Walker Ave., with commercial space on the ground floor. The proposal was to change the zoning to general business, from single-family residential.
When asked for her vote during the meeting, Kavuliak was silent for a moment.
“I’m going to say no, but I’m going to couch that with the fact that I think there were irregularities in this process. If those irregularities did not exist, I would be a yes,” she said.
She did not identify the irregularities. Nor did she explain why she generally favored the project.
On Tuesday, Patch emailed Kavuliak, asking about the difference in her positions on the proposal next door and the one on the edge of downtown. She did not respond.
