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‘Please Don’t Put Words In My Mouth’: Smith Development Hot Topic At Wheeling Village Board Meeting


Wheeling Trustee Jim Ruffatto has a terse exchange with attorney Dan Shapiro, a Northbrook-based lawyer, during Monday night’s village board meeting. (Karie Angell Luc/Journal photo)

A heated exchange between a Wheeling village trustee and the attorney representing a Wheeling developer ended in the lawyer apologizing at Monday’s Oct. 4 Wheeling Village Board meeting.

Dan Shapiro, the Northbrook attorney for Smith Family Development (builder of Wheeling’s Prairie Park), had the terse conversation with Jim Ruffatto, village trustee.

Smith Family Development was granted a substantial change to what was previously agreed to for the Prairie Park condominium property near the 500 block of Wolf Road.

Instead of building a fifth condominium building on a 1.1-acre parcel in the 17-acre development, Smith Family Development got the go ahead on Oct. 4 to build 18 three-bedroom single family townhomes, rather than a 66-unit condominium building.

On April 14, 2003, an ordinance was approved to grant final approval for the PUD, planned unit development, for Prairie Park Condominiums.

Nearly two decades later, Prairie Park is not fully built out. At the Oct. 4 meeting, there was peppered talk about an outstanding electrical bill due from the developer (to the village) at more than $5,000, which was ordered to be paid and settled by the close of business day on Oct. 8.

Dialogue became terse when Ruffatto brought up the Sept. 22 Wheeling Plan Commission meeting when the Prairie Park townhome request was narrowly passed as a recommendation to the village board.

“Mr. Shapiro, you used the word ‘animosity’ at the meeting,” Ruffatto said to Shapiro on Oct. 4. “To say that the plan commission was to blame for this is inexcusable.

“The project seems fine and there’s a lot of work put into that,” Ruffatto said.

“But then, at the last minute, to constantly ask them for their (plan commission) approval, and then to say, ‘I need your approval’ and to say that there’s animosity…for me,” Ruffatto said, “it was inexcusable on your part to even say that.”

Shapiro replied, “I never once in this project had blamed anybody. I have not blamed the plan commission, I have not blamed the staff. What I did say was, it was stressful and I felt there was animosity.

“But please,” Shapiro said to Ruffatto, “with all respect I have for you sir, please don’t put words in my mouth.

“I never said that,” Shapiro said. “The plan commission has a job to do and it seemed to me that what was happening at the last meeting, is, it was getting a little tense and personal.

“But I did not blame the plan commission. I respect this body and the plan commission too much, and I believe you know that, sir,” Shapiro said.

“But I did not blame the plan commission,” Shapiro said to Ruffatto. “And if you want it that way, I apologize.”

Ruffatto said, “I will tell you, it did come off that way,” to which Shapiro replied, “It certainly was not my intent to cast blame.

“If it came off that way, I apologize,” Shapiro said.

After the Oct. 4 meeting ended, Ruffatto said he ultimately was not offended by Shapiro and that, “It’s part of it,” noting that public dialogue is part of the government process.

Mary Krueger, trustee, had concerns about a trailer sitting on the Prairie Park piece of undeveloped land.

Krueger has heard feedback suggesting the mobile office is unkempt. The trailer has been there for several years, at least since 2018.

Krueger drove by the Prairie Park site on Oct. 4 to see the trailer that people talk about as an eyesore.

“I saw a piece of plywood in one of the windows on the north side of the trailer, saw lots of Rubbermaid storage boxes,” Krueger said.

The trailer must now be made presentable and usable within 30 days and inspected as a safe sales office suitable to host potential buyers of a new Prairie Park townhome.

“Clean it up,” said Krueger to Shapiro and to Jamie Smith, vice-president of operations for Smith Family Development, LLC.

Outside of the boardroom, Smith was congratulated by Shapiro for the village board’s townhome approval.

Smith told Journal & Topics Media Group that materials for a fifth condominium building became too expensive to build for the return in condo unit sales.

“It really just came down to economics and the cost,” Smith said.

Smith stayed out of the animated exchange between his attorney, Dan Shapiro, and Ruffatto, simply saying, “That’s their thing.

“I’m just happy we got our approvals,” Smith said. “We’re excited.

“It’s going to be a terrific project.”

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