Fred Kroner
fred@mahometnews.com
Sports, it has been said, are a microcosm of society.
Following up on that analogy, consider how a person’s life correlates to a basketball season.
The first phase in basketball is the off-season. That corresponds nicely to the early pre-school portion of an individual’s life.
Next comes the basketball preseason practice, which can be equated to the school years of a young person.
That is followed by the basketball regular season, which can be considered similar to a person’s post-high school endeavors, either college, military or a trade school, all of which leads to a career.
Finally, the basketball postseason arrives. For a person, that would be the retirement years.
One universal consistency in basketball is that once a season starts, the rules are in place and will not be changed.
People want to see that stability within their life.
They make plans based on the facts as they know them. If subsequent changes are enacted, they are seldom happy campers.
In a nutshell, unexpected and unwanted change is the overriding issue for dozens of Mahomet residents in subdivisions where the Village is seeking to impose an annexation directive.
It’s not one person or one family taking issue to the proposal.
A significant number of individuals who live in Briarcliff, Lakeview or Summit Ridge have become outspoken in their criticism.
At recent Village board meetings, they have made their presence known.
“I moved there 30 years ago,” said Summit Ridge resident Carol Henke. “And I chose this property because it bordered a forest preserve, Lake of the Woods Park, to the north and to the south, it bordered a marsh.
“I had that country feel that I enjoyed. I’m not interested in living in a big town.”
That opinion is echoed by Briarcliff residents.
Jason and Tanya Knauff moved out of Champaign-Urbana about 12 years ago, he said, seeking “a small town for great schools.”
He found the answer in Mahomet, specifically in Briarcliff.
Now, he is filled with a series of questions.
“If Mahomet keeps growing, it’s not going to be a small town anymore,” Jason Knauff said. “So why don’t we keep it small? Why don’t we stop expanding?”
When the family was house-hunting, they were struck by the amenities available in Briarcliff.
“We liked the neighborhood and that you can’t drive through it to get to another neighborhood,” Jason Knauff said.
Another benefit, he said, is the option to burn, which is not possible inside the Village limits.
For Knauff, burning is not a convenience, but a necessity.
“I have 15 ornamental grasses,” Jason Knauff said. “They (the Village) don’t pick up ornamental grasses.”
Since the grasses don’t compost, Knauff added, “the best practice is to burn.
“To me, that will be lowering the standard. We won’t be able to do the best practice.”
The family has already started pondering their next move.
With two teen-agers and an 11-year-old, Jason Knauff said, “We’ve started considering moving, but we would still stay within the school district.”
While the annexation is a major factor, it’s not the only reason to think about relocating.
“The development (of Thornewood) is right behind our house,” Jason Knauff said.
That project brings its own set of questions.
“If we build all those houses in Thornewood, where are those kids going to school?” he wondered. “They can’t fit them in Middletown Prairie because it’s already maxed out.”
Erik Spitzner and his family relocated to Central Illinois from the Chicago suburbs about eight years ago.
“We saw Briarcliff,” he said. “It was perfect.
“I have a son who has a love for nature, and it’s because of where he grew up and the opportunities he was given.”
The in-village, out-of-village issue was not a factor when the Spitzners decided to buy.
“I had no idea and did not care,” Spitzner said. “We liked the vibe and the neighborhood.”
Annexation in and of itself will not be the overriding factor in whether the family stays or goes.
“Honestly, I don’t want to lose the neighborhood,” Spitzner said. “I don’t want to be connected to another neighborhood and have tons more traffic.
“I am afraid of the change that will be forced upon us with annexation.”
He is not opposed to moving once his son is out of school.
“If you want to change Briarcliff, that’s fine,” Spitzner added. “People, like myself, will just go elsewhere.”
Spitzner emphasized that was never part of his master plan.
“I never thought about moving until these annexations letters came up,” he said. “I thought I was going to be here for the rest of my life.
“I thought I had found the perfect place, but I guess I was wrong.”
Tom DeWitt’s life in Briarcliff began four decades ago and has included raising seven children.
“The reason we moved out there was the atmosphere, just the culture of that community,” DeWitt said. “We saw the lake. The kids were raised in that atmosphere, they could run and we weren’t scared about their safety and security.
“It was kind of like we were on a vacation,”
He is sad to learn about the proposed changes that will come to a vote of the Village Board next month. It may mean the family will seek a new ‘vacation’ site.
“With this decision, I think we are going to have to make some choices, too,” DeWitt said. “I can’t see a benefit for any of us in Briarcliff.
“The community that we grew up in and that we loved is changing.”
Matt Vogel and his wife, Mae, spent five years together in northern Illinois, near Lake Michigan.
She is a Mahomet native and, Matt Vogel said, “begged” to return to her hometown.
The Briarcliff residents are having second thoughts about the decision.
“Now I have to convince my wife not to move from Mahomet,” Matt Vogel said. “There’s something wrong when you have someone who was born and raised in Mahomet and believes so dearly in a community, now look at it and not recognize it.
“It’s not the town that she grew up in. Obviously growth is going to happen, change is going to happen. It is inevitable.
“However, change for change sake is not acceptable. Growth for growth’s sake is not acceptable.”
Henke, Spitzner, DeWitt and Vogel have voiced their concerns to the Village Board members.
The annexations that the Village is pursuing all meet the criteria, according to Village President Sean Widener.
“What we are doing is allowed and legal within the state of Illinois,” Widener said.
Mary Alexander, a Mahomet resident for four decades, questions the long-term vision of the Village Board.
For her, there are concerns beyond the potential annexations. She cited the work taking place along East Oak Street, where multiple trees and a house are being removed for a housing development that will soon be under construction.
“We are destroying the environment to allow people to bring more concrete and asphalt,” Alexander said. “That’s all we are going to have in Mahomet after a while.
“The feeling of this community is changing, and you can’t go back and decide this wasn’t a good decision. I’m really disappointed this is the direction Mahomet is going.
“It’s very sad for our children and our children’s children. You really need to reconsider what is going on here.
“Just because you can have 150 units or houses, doesn’t mean you have to. At least you can’t tear down the forest preserve, thank goodness.”
Another Briarcliff resident, Brent Helmuth, said it was an intentional decision for his family to move into the subdivision.
“We purposely chose Briarcliff because of the quiet,” Helmuth said. “I like that there are days that I can see deer or foxes walking though our neighborhood.
“If we put in a bunch of homes, that’s probably not going to happen anymore.”
School board candidate Colleen Schultz said the annexations affect more than the 300 or so homes that would find themselves inside the village limits.
“Many people would say that I am not affected by what is going on here today,” Schultz said. “But I am. I am part of a community; a community that I love and cherish and one that I see slipping away.
“I am here today to say that I do not want to live in a community that puts what they ‘can do’ before what they ‘should do’ … I do not want to live in a community that pushes votes through with questionable timing … I do not want to live in a community that doesn’t consider the wishes and concerns of whole neighborhoods.
“I DO want to live in a community where we treat others the way we would like to be treated … I DO want to live in a community that prioritizes the safety of our kids … I DO want to live in a community which moves with the mutual consent of the governed … I DO want to live in a community where leaders are clear and transparent about their priorities; priorities that are set after seeking the opinions and values of their residents.”
Residents have gained at least a minor victory.
An annexation vote, which was originally expected to take place in March, has been postponed until the April 23 Village Board meeting.
Spitzner was one of nearly a dozen community members who addressed the Village Board at one of its two recent meetings.
“With the amount of people, and the emotion and passion, I hope they did listen,” Spitzner said, “and that those who were speaking will influence their decision.”
Widener noted that the Village expansion is in keeping in line with a plan that was put in place more than a decade ago.
“In 2007, we held Mahomet Area Prosperity Planning, which included a large spectrum of the community,” Widener said. “We held community surveys.”
More than three-fourths of the respondents indicated a desire for more retail businesses.
“Since ‘07, we’ve adopted a pro-growth, pro-business attitude,” Widener said. “We’ve increased commercial properties within the Village, helping to relieve the tax burden on our residents.”
Annexing Briarcliff is only one step on the path to projected growth on the north quadrant of the Village.
Plans are in place for the Thornewood subdivision to expand to the south — adding approximately 60 new homes — with a connecting road through Briarcliff on the project list.
The road would go through two properties, through Briarcliff and onto IL 47.
The land had a taxable value of $3.7 million in 2016, which would result in an annual real estate tax revenue of $30,000.
Widener has shown a willingness, however, to not make the road a priority.
The Village board took a straw poll during its March 19 study session. Four board members (Bruce Colravy, Andy Harpst, Don Lynn and William Oliger) voted yes to remove the road from the table.
Board members David Johnson and Brian Metzger were absent from the meeting held during spring break.
When Briarcliff residents brought up concerns about the road at the March 26 meeting, Widener said, “We are committed to removing the road from the discussion.
“We will get the road issues taken care of. There are bells and whistles that have to happen with that, dealing with the adjacent property and that development, which we are in the course of talking to those folks now.
“We are moving towards that direction, but the road itself, you have the commitment from this board, it’s not going to be a concern.”
Briarcliff residents have requested that the Village board put this to a binding vote or document the commitment in writing.
In any case, Helmuth believes the image and feel of Mahomet will be forever altered.
He offered a reminder to Board members to remember the words that can be seen on the website.
“Your logo says Village, not city,” Helmuth said.
