The Oak Park village board voted 6-1 to allow construction for a new Pete’s Fresh Market on Madison St. Trustee Simone Boutet suggested Pete’s make the back of the new building more attractive to neighbors, whose enjoyment of their homes might be lessened by the view of a stretch of brick wall. “To Trustee Buchanan’s point, it is a condition of the planned development ordinance that Pete’s work with the Oak Park Area Arts Council to come up with a design for that front area where the sign’s going to be,” Grossman said, adding that the village has had good luck with the arts council in finding creative ways to tie signs in with buildings.Ĭonversations between the arts council and Pete’s have not happened yet, according to Nodalski. Tammie Grossman, Oak Park development director, told the village board that Pete’s will collaborate on plans for the area. “We have at that corner a landscaped area and Pete’s will propose their building signage at that location as well,” Nadolski said. “That’s not what we voted on,” said Sims.īuchanan then directly asked the project’s architect Ken Nadolski, of API Architects, what Pete’s planned to do with that particular corner. Sims then stated one commissioner had suggested that “the village waste money, putting bricks and pavers” in the intersection of Madison Street and Oak Park Avenue. “Some of the comments with respect to that corner were quite frankly inappropriate and silly,” said Sims.īuchanan then tried to tell Sims that she wasn’t asking what happened during Plan Commission meetings, just what was planned for the corner. When Buchanan tried to respond, Sims criticized statements made during the Plan Commission’s discussion of the project. “In terms of concerns, there’s a big difference, and it needs to be understood not only by the trustees but by the Wednesday Journal – there’s a big difference between the comments and discussions that take place during the course of our Plan Commission meetings and what we actually vote on,” Sims told Buchanan.

Petes fresh market