Build Winnetka's Future — Don't Fence It Off

Here's the ask, up front. The Post Office site will define downtown Winnetka for the next 50 years — and the public input window has already closed after just two meetings and a short online survey. The decision now moves behind the Village Council's doors this fall, on a process quietly tilted toward an "open space" outcome.

So we have one window left: the Council itself. Email the Village Council today - contactcouncil@winnetka.org - with two asks:

• Reopen and widen public input — more meetings, a real survey, more ways for residents to be heard before anything is decided.
• Run a true RFP process that invites Winnetka's many world-class developers to compete on a real vision for the site — not a pre-narrowed menu.

Do this and we accomplish two things: Our community's voice is heard, and Winnetka keeps pace with — or outpaces — our neighbors in Glencoe, Wilmette, Kenilworth, and Northfield.

What's happening in public

The Village hired the planning firm Teska Associates to run a "visioning" process for the downtown site at 512 Chestnut Street. On June 9 and again June 15, Village Hall filled with neighbors placing colored stickers on a board of concepts. The options were real, the questions looked fair, and Teska is doing competent, professional work.

But look at what residents were given to choose from. Three of the five redevelopment concepts were variations on open space — lawns, plazas, minimal building. Only two involved genuine development, and even the more ambitious of those was scaled to the lowest threshold a private developer could justify under the Village's constraints.

When the menu is built that way, the outcome is half-decided before the first sticker goes up. That's the quiet part. Teska executes; the Village Council sets the direction.

Back in October 2025, trustees already voiced support for demolishing the building and converting the site to a vacant lawn "temporarily." The direction points toward open space — an outcome that reflects a narrow slice of the community, not the residents who will live with it for decades.

Why the process itself is the problem

Two public meetings and a brief online survey. That was the entire window — and as of this week, it's closed. Teska will now analyze the results, with the "guidance of the Village Council" and a select few from our community, pick the top one or two concepts, and present them to the Village Council this fall, likely in October.

In other words, the part of this process where your voice carried weight is over, and the deciding happens next.

Consider the timing. The input window ran through mid-June — exactly when Winnetka families are scrambling out of the school year and into summer, with camps, travel, and childcare to juggle. The 35-to-54-year-olds raising families here, roughly 42% of last year's community survey, are at their busiest and least available. A 50-year decision was opened and closed precisely when the people with the most at stake were least able to weigh in.

The effect, intended or not, is a low-turnout process that a small, organized group can dominate.

What the community actually said

This isn't a guess. Winnetka's own 2025 community survey — 920 residents — is clear, and it cuts against the open-space tilt.

Food and restaurants are the runaway top priority. Asked what they want more of, 70% chose independent restaurants and wine bars — the single highest response — with specialty food shops and dining close behind. An empty lawn delivers none of that.

On the site specifically, active, built uses won decisively. Mixed-use residential/retail like One Winnetka, additional retail and dining, and flexible gathering space together drew roughly three in five residents. A passive outdoor park drew under a quarter.

And here's the detail the "open space" framing depends on you missing: when residents define open space, they mean parks, beaches, woods, and natural areas — 89% said so. Only 14% count a building-free downtown parcel or parking lot as "open space" at all.

Winnetka already has the open space it values. What it lacks — and keeps asking for — is dining, gathering, and creative housing.

What development could actually deliver

This is not theoretical. Neighbors touring One Winnetka describe it as spectacular, with demand off the charts. It is about to bring life to a corner dormant for decades. Activity breeds activity: a vibrant downtown generates the foot traffic our merchants need and the tax revenue the Village needs to fund schools, parks, and services without leaning harder on homeowners.

Picture a boutique hotel in the spirit of the Deerpath Inn in Lake Forest, or condos and apartments above ground-floor restaurants and shops — each generating tax revenue and drawing people downtown.

And here's the part that disarms the loudest objection: the Village owns this land and does not have to sell it. It can retain ownership and offer a long-term ground lease — 100 to 150 years — to a developer. That keeps the parcel under permanent public control while creating an ongoing revenue stream, and property taxes keep flowing as long as the use is for-profit.

We don't have to imagine the upside — we're living it this weekend. Today, Friday, kicks off the Winnetka Music Festival, the kind of event that has put our village on the map and shown what a magnetic downtown can be. For a few days, thousands fill our streets, restaurants, and sidewalks, and the whole town feels alive.

Now imagine that energy not confined to one weekend a year. A thriving, mixed-use Post Office site extends that vitality to 24/7/365 — a downtown that draws people, sustains our merchants, and funds the Village every day, not just during a festival.

Name the choice plainly

This isn't development versus preservation. It's a living, working downtown — restaurants, shops, homes, a real gathering place — versus a tidy, empty parcel fenced off from use and decided by a handful of people who never miss a meeting.

The waitlist at One Winnetka shows the demand. The survey shows what residents want built. And neighbors are already energized — this is the moment the pushback finally happens, if enough of us show up.

Your Call to Action

1. Email the Village Council today: contactcouncil@winnetka.org

State your two asks:

• Reopen and widen public input
• Run a true RFP process with real developers

Mention the long-term land-lease option so the Village keeps ownership, control, and revenue.

2. Know where the decision now lives.

The online survey and comment map are closed. Teska will present its top one or two concepts to the Village Council this fall — likely October. That meeting is where this gets decided. Don't let it happen quietly. Track the timeline at the Village project page: villageofwinnetka.org/395/Post-Office-Site-Redevelopment

3. Show up at the next July 7 Village Council Meeting — and bring a neighbor.

Speak during the public-comment portion. Demand more input. Bring your own ideas for the site.

Build Winnetka's future. Don't fence it off.

\# # #

Our Town Winnetka is seeking your help and advocacy!

Beyond these frequent emails, we are now seeking residents to join our team. We are seeking:

• Residents who are willing to go to our various Village Council / Historic Preservation / Zoning Board of Approvals / Winnetka Park District meetings to speak their minds for their fellow citizens -- and share their observations back to OTW.
• Residents who are open to hosting a coffee at their home to discuss the key issues with fellow residents and bring the key insights & summary points back to OTW.
• Have a story that is worth sharing, via our newsletter, where a resident needs help navigating local permitting processes, whether your personal residence or local business.

If interested, please click on the link here to submit your interest to the page on our website shown below.

Founded in 2024 by Ed Harney and Ian Larkin,* Our Town Winnetka (OTW) was organized with a simple principle: We need to be more inclusive and transparent in our Winnetka Caucus and Government Process.

*Ian Larkin, given his 2025 WCC Chairmanship, has resigned from OTW.

Our Promise to You: Winnetka, simplified. With clarity, transparency, and a balanced point of view.