Chicago Jewish Funerals Ltd. will get another chance to argue before the Skokie Village Board for permission to build a new facility in the village.
The board approved the motion to reconsider on Monday after the funeral home’s lawyer, Mark Gershon, requested one on behalf of his clients. Board members emphasized that reconsideration doesn’t guarantee and easy victory for the funeral company.
“If I make this motion to reconsider, I want it understood it hasn't changed my position, and I may very well vote the same way when this is reviewed in detail,” said village trustee Donald Perille. The board passed Perille’s motion at their meeting Monday night; the issue of the funeral home will be taken up by trustees at an August 17 meeting.
At the board’s last meeting on July 6, Chicago Jewish Funerals, despite being supported by the Skokie Plan Commission, was denied their request to build a new location in the vacant lot on the corner of Skokie Boulevard. and Enfield Avenue.
The decision was the result of a 3-3 tie. Village Trustee Michael Lorge was absent for the original vote but recused himself from voting in the future citing a personal relation with Gershon.
The rejection came on the heels of complaints and outcries from several residents who live near the proposed location.
Ibrahim Ajanovic, a Bosnian immigrant who lives next door to the location in question, read a statement begging the board not to approve the building of the home, “I understand that this lot has to be occupied at one point, but please do not let it be occupied by dead bodies, sad people, and terrible traffic.”
Ajanovic, who stood to oppose the home the first time as well, went on to thank many of the trustees personally for their support in turning down the request the first time and concluded with asking that the board help keep the “funeral machine” out of his neighborhood.
When asked if this debate was an emotional issue or a question of parking, other neighbors who attended the meeting and had signed a 47-signature petition against the funeral home immediately admitted that they saw it as a parking issue. No one in favor of the funeral home spoke up during Monday’s meeting.
Chicago Jewish Funerals will present its business plan in greater detail at the August 17 board meeting. Trustees plan to discuss their proposed ideas for dealing with the great influx of traffic and unique situation of funeral processions, also known as “stacking.”
When asked by Perille why the board did not hear more in the initial presentation regarding logistical details, specifically about parking and stacking, Gershon said “the practical answer is Mr. Jacobson's business is running funerals and not presenting traffic patterns to Village Boards.”
David Jacobson, owner of Chicago Jewish Funerals, was not present at the meeting. He and his planers will return on August 17 to present the findings that were endorsed by the Planning Commission.
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Notes:
Another Methods exercise at Medill that, while not published, was reported and edited as seriously as if it were to have been.
