RIVERSIDE-BROOKFIELD Also serving North Riverside
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Vol. 36, No. 20
May 19, 2021
@riversidebrookfieldlandmark
Scarpiniti named North Riverside administrator PAGE 6
Spotty mail delivery has residents frustrated
Governor rescinds mask mandate for those vaccinated PAGE 9
Not so grand on Grand Blvd. New homeowner says apartment building project was a shock
Parts of Riverside, North Riverside often go days without deliveries By BOB SKOLNIK Contributing Reporter
“Neither snow nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” That’s the unofficial motto of the United States Postal Service. But something, be it COVID-19 or cutbacks, is disrupting mail delivery around these parts, with some residents of Riverside and North Riverside saying that they often go days without getting any mail. Mail delivery seems to particularly bad in the area of Riverside south of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad tracks and near Harlem Avenue, especially on Lawton, Gage and Olmsted roads. Susan Mars, who lives in the 200 block of Gage Road, says she typically only gets mail twice a week, often on Wednesdays and Thursdays. “Seems like it’s always Friday and Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, they’re like five-day weekends,” said Mars of her days See POST OFFICE on page 17
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
TIGHT SQUEEZE: Paulette Delcourt says she was never told that an apartment complex would be built next door before buying her home. She knows she may not be able to stop it, but wants others to be aware of how village goals in Brookfield’s commercial districts could impact other properties. By BOB UPHUES Editor
Somehow, Paulette Delcourt didn’t get some important information about the home she bought in late 2019 at 3710 Grand Blvd. in downtown Brookfield. All the warning signs were there: The cozy, 90-year-old 1.5-story frame bungalow was located on a block zoned commercial – the appraiser had flagged it for that reason – and Delcourt had heard something about
a possible development next door, but apparently was told it had fallen through. “I had no clue,” Delcourt said. “I couldn’t imagine someone actually putting something like this in this spot.” Delcourt said she did some online research and couldn’t find any reason to believe there would be any significant development. And she decided to take the plunge. About eight or nine months later, well into the pandemic year of 2020, Delcourt noticed that trees on property to the north
were coming down. She went outside to find out what was happening and ran into her neighbor, Michael Gatto, the developer who had purchased the property after winning Brookfield Village Board approval in December 2018 – 11 months before Delcourt bought her home -- to build a three-story apartment building with a ground-floor commercial storefront at 3704-08 Grand Blvd. See GRAND BLVD. on page 13
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