photo courtesy of Friends of the Green Bay Trail facebook page.
Glencoe, IL — The Green Bay Trail South of South Ave. will soon have much less buckthorn—and a much more open feel as a result. After postponing this section of the trail’s restoration project for nearly three months due to neighbor’s concerns, the Village decided to move ahead with the removal of invasive plants in the next week or so at their Board of Trustees meeting Thursday March 15.
The Friends of the Green Bay Trail (a local 501©3) is spearheading the effort to not only remove the invasive plant species on the trail—but to replant with hardy native plants.
With the help of landscape professionals like Bob Kirschner, director of restoration at the Chicago Botanic Gardens, the Friends have created a plan to place nearly $100,000 worth of native plants approved for survival in the different types of soil after the buckthorn is removed. The Friends also included a non-native but fast growing green giant arborvitae in their plan since it can provide additional screening from Green Bay Road.
However, as neighbors learned of the plan to continue the Friends of the Trail’s restoration work South of South Avenue, they became concerned. Some, like Terri Atkinson of Wentworth Ave. are still unsatisfied with the completed work between Harbor and Scott Ave. They’re confused why another section of the trail is beginning to receive investment when they don’t feel the first section is complete.
Whether or not that section is complete is a topic of conversation that will continue through the next year, but unlike the section from Harbor to Scott, the section South of South Ave. has a plan, a budget, a timeline and partnerships with the village and park district from the get go. In contrast, the Section from Harbor to Scott started six years ago as three volunteers tramping through the trail cutting out buckthorn in their free time.
Following the Friends of the Green Bay Trail’s community meeting in December discussing their trail restoration plan, the Village received an email from a concerned resident and set up a meeting with a couple of concerned neighbors in early February.
The work of tearing out the buckthorn was set to begin in January but was postponed due to the raised concerns.
The primary concerns of the ten or so neighbors directly next to the section of the trail South of South Ave. were about their property values and privacy. The loss of vegetation will expose more of the train and more of the headlights from Green Bay Road traffic and if not completed properly, could result in a less attractive trail which would reduce the value of nearby homes according to their petition.
Kayri Havens from the Chicago Botanic Gardens said it is very unlikely the work will adversely affect property values. “Plants will grow up and provide a much more beautiful and much more ecologically appropriate screen than the buckthorn does… I think as these restorations mature, they will actually help property values,” Havens said.
Carl Leonard of Ida Lane expressed concern about the quantity of plants to be replanted.
“Although we truly applaud the intent and desire to eliminate buckthorn, we feel the plan has not allocated appropriate resources to prevent the buckthorn from repopulating once it’s removed,” Leonard said.
The Friends of the Green Bay trail have, however, set up a “Trust for the Trail” with ambitious fundraising goals “to ensure future leaders will always have the resources to maintain our projects” according to their website.
Harriet Resnick of Mortimer Road originally signed the petition to postpone the trail work but changed her mind after listening to the plans presented at the Village board meeting.
“When I was approached, I did sign the petition because I didn’t have any detailed information about the project,” Resnick said. “Since then, I’ve learned a lot about the project and I’ve also discovered that the Chicago Botanic Garden was part of the process of developing this plan, which I did not know before this. So now, I do support this project.”
The Village President Lawrence Levin promised discussion will continue between the Park District, Public Works, Friends of the Trail, and neighbors in order to be sure everyone’s concerns are addressed as the project moves forward. Things like safety concerns from an exposed railroad track, loss of sound buffering, and increased exposure of homes to the trail are all ongoing issues that can be reassessed as the project continues.
After nearly two hours of conversation—including ample amounts of public comment—Trustee Gail Lissner made a motion to postpone the trail work until all concerns had more opportunity to be addressed but no one moved to second her motion. So, the work will proceed in the next 7-10 days with the beginning of buckthorn and poison ivy removal.
Originally published in the Glencoe Anchor on March 19, 2018.
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