DAILY CHRONICLE
HAVE A SEAT Outdoor furnishings becoming extensions of indoor looks / C1
April 18-19, 2015 • $1.50
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University Village decision looms By BRETT ROWLAND browland@shawmedia.com DeKALB – A renovation proposal for University Village leaves DeKalb officials with a choice: Do they want the densely populated complex to get upgrades under new ownership, or should they hold out for a proposal that would make more sweeping changes? Representatives of Seattle-based Security Properties said the change that some seem to want most – fewer housing units – is not possible. The company has rallied some support for its plan to buy and renovate University Village, but it wasn’t convincing enough for DeKalb’s Planning and Zoning Commission – at
What’s next The Planning and Zoning Commission could vote on the rezoning request April 29. The commission’s recommendation will then go to the DeKalb City Council, which will make the final decision.
least not this week. After a four-hour public hearing Wednesday on a proposed zoning change that would allow the company to buy the 534-unit apartment complex at 722 N. Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb and undertake an $18 million renovation project, commissioners weren’t ready to make a recommendation. Instead, they voted to
postpone a vote on the zoning request until April 29. The first phase of University Village was built in 1971, a second phase came in 1974 and the third and final phase in 1984. The complex, spread over 32.3 acres, has 534 units. Of those, 465 are Section 8 units that are rented to very low income tenants who pay 30 percent of their income toward rent. The federal government pays the difference. When it was first built, University Village was one of the most sought-after places to live in DeKalb, Commission Chairman Michael Welsh said. “It was the place that people dreamed of living,” he said. “The car dealership owner in town lived there with his wife, the state reps – it was
the place to get started. I think that DeKalb bought into that. I’d like to reinvigorate the place to get started in DeKalb.” Welsh expressed doubts about what the zoning change would mean for the area in future. “I’m really glad that [Security Properties is] going to make it a habitable place to live,” he said. “But what we have to look at is what is best for the community as a whole.” For the past 30 years, Welsh said what’s best for the community as a whole has been residential density of about 12 units an acre, not the 18 units an acre that exist at University Village and would be able to remain there if the zoning change is ultimately approved by the city.
“I think [Security Properties] has done a great job working with the people that are there,” Welsh said. “I don’t know that they’ve convinced the people that really care what’s going to be DeKalb in 20 years. Are we returning to making it the place that everyone wants to live in? It’s a beautiful location. It’s right next to the university. It’s right next to a lot of things.” The density also was the No. 1 concern for commissioner David Castro. Castro said most city planners no longer think that building large concentrations of affordable housing in one place is a good idea. Looking ahead, the goal is to make affordable
See ZONES, page A4
Chicago schools chief to take leave
DEEP ROOTS HELP KEEP FAMILIES CONNECTED TO FAIRDALE
By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Friends Joy Worden (right) and Shannon Lee hug Thursday in front of Worden’s childhood home at 32403 West St. in Fairdale. Lee and her family live at 458 Brown St. on the opposite side of Fairdale and are still living in their home. Worden currently lives in Belvidere, and it was her late mother’s house, which was empty at the time, that was destroyed by the tornado.
Residents cope in aftermath By ADAM POULISSE apoulisse@shawmedia.com FAIRDALE – Dewey Barnes used to step outside his West Street home in the morning, and be greeted by the sights and sounds of his close-knit Fairdale community, where trees and houses surrounded him. But since April 9’s deadly EF4 tornado, that picturesque morning view has changed. “It’s unbelievable,” Barnes said. “You get up in the morning and you walk outside, and you don’t see a neighbor’s house or a friend’s house that was there. It’s breathtaking every morning when I get up and walk outside and look across my yard, and something I’ve been used to looking at for 25 years isn’t there.” The Barnes house is one of the few houses still deemed livable in the tiny community, and his family along with a few other residents have continued to live in what is now a disaster area while cleanup and salvage efforts continue around them on homes that
More online View all coverage of the tornado that touched down April 9 at daily-chronicle. com/fairdaletornado.
weren’t as lucky. Barnes moved to Fairdale in 1987 and has lived there every day since the tornado leveled most of his community. He used generators when there was no power. He and his wife took shelter in their basement when the tornado touched down about 110 feet away from their house, according to Barnes, who also is a trained weather spotter and employee at Ideal Industries. “I’ve seen a lot of rotation. I’ve never seen one on the ground,” Barnes said. “Last Thursday, I saw two, and I never want to see any more.” The tornado blew the windows out of the house, tore up the back of the house, and a tree fell onto the Barnes’ front porch. But unlike most – but not all – of his neigh-
bors’ houses, his remains standing. Many others were reduced to piles of rubble. “There is no rhyme or a reason to a tornado,” Barnes said. “Maybe my neighbor’s house blocked some of the wind. I’ve seen some very strange things out here that I just can’t answer.” The Lees – husband and wife Shannon and Brian, their 9-yearold son Carter and their 19-year-old daughter Lizzie – have returned to their 110-year-old house on Brown Street. The house’s foundation is cracked, some siding is missing, and Carter’s bedroom window was broken. Shannon, Brian and Carter were all home when the tornado hit last week. “Our little side of Fairdale, God’s hand was on it,” Shannon Lee said. “I have no explanation. Why are we still here and three houses down is completely gone? I mean, absolutely no rhyme or reason for it. We’re just blessed. “We have each other, a roof over our heads, and food in our bellies that has been provided by wonder-
ful angels.” She said that the 6 p.m. curfew in effect for Fairdale is good because it keeps the town safe and secure, although she misses coming and going as she pleases. “It’s just weird not hearing all of the kids in town,” Shannon Lee said. “So many kids were displaced and we’re used to seeing groups of kids running around and laughing and playing and hearing an occasional firework or bottle break going into the garage, and we don’t hear any of that anymore.” Although Fairdale is without many of its usual daily residents, the town is as busy as ever. Volunteers from several organizations have continued to dig through the debris and help with the cleanup. A 150-year-old tree on Susan Meyer’s front lawn was once a staple of the Fairdale community. Now, it’s taken a different meaning. The hollowed-out tree that was broken in half now contains a former neighbor’s statue of the Virgin Mary.
See AFTERMATH, page A5
LOCAL NEWS
SPORTS
SPORTS
WHERE IT’S AT
Living history
Bad-luck loss
Setting records
Civil War camp to commemorate historic anniversary / A3
DeKalb softball falls to Hinsdale Central on costly late-inning plays / B1
NIU’s Youel holds top marks in tennis program history / B1
Advice ................................ C4 Classified........................D1-4 Comics ............................... C5 Local News.....................A2-5 Lottery................................ A2 Nation&World.............. A2, 6
CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett will take a paid leave of absence amid a federal investigation over a roughly $20 million no-bid contract the district awarded to a training academy where she once worked as a consultant, officials announced Friday. The schools chief of the nation’s third-largest district – chosen by Chicago Mayor Barbara Rahm Emanuel Byrd-Bennett in 2012 – requested the leave effective Monday, which the Chicago Board of Education agreed to. “In light of the attention given to my position as chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Schools, I believe that my continuing as CEO at this time would be a distraction,” Byrd-Bennett wrote in a letter to board members Friday. “Although this is a very difficult decision for me personally, it is one I believe is in the best interests of the children of CPS that I am so fortunate to serve.” Byrd-Bennett, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, directed requests for comment to her attorney, Michael Scudder. He declined to talk about the pending investigation. A longtime educator, Byrd-Bennett has ties to school systems in New York, Detroit and Cleveland. Board officials provided copies of subpoenas at a news conference showing that the probe involves three other school district employees, along with programs and employees related to the SUPES Academy, a suburban company that trains principals. The subpoenas seek records, including contracts, invoices and emails. Among those listed are Byrd-Bennett’s chief of staff, Sherry Ulery. She didn’t return a message seeking comment. The news comes at a critical time for the district, which faces a roughly $1 billion budget shortfall and a severely underfunded pension system. Contract negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union are upcoming this year. During the last round in 2012, Chicago teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years.
Obituaries .........................A4 Opinion...............................A7 Puzzles ............................... C4 Sports..............................B1-4 State ...................................A4 Weather .............................A8