Village Demolishes Eyesore Home, Will Replace It With Parking Lot
By Kevin Gosztola, Editor
The village demolished a house nearby Arezzo Jewelers and the BP gas station in order to develop another parking lot for North Avenue businesses.
Located at 1613 North 76th Avenue, the property had long been an eyesore. It had broken and boarded up windows, as well as a tree and overgrown vegetation that enveloped the house.
On April 20, the Elmwood Park Plan, Zoning and Development (PZD) Commission held a public hearing in the village chambers to approve rezoning so the village could create another parking lot.
Village Manager Paul Volpe, who presented the proposal to the commission, said the village has done this “over 10 times now.”
“In this particular case, acquiring this property and creating a parking lot here first and foremost probably cures a blight at this location that has plagued this village for probably 20+ years,” Volpe said. “Certainly longer than I’ve been here. I’ve been here 14 years.”
Volpe indicated that the mouth of the alley will be widened. “It will certainly help with traffic flow at the intersection of 76th Avenue and the alley, which if you’ve traveled that alley [it’s] very narrow.”
With the construction of a new Greek restaurant named Ethos Taverna at 7528 West North Avenue, the additional spaces created will be available for patrons.
The village board approved rezoning on May 4, and days later, a tree was removed and excavator went to work tearing down the shabby house.
Back in November, the village board passed and approved the real estate purchase at this address. The acquisition closed on January 5 and cost the village $320,000, which is lower than the average value for similar properties.
The village made several real estate purchases in 2025 that involved the demolition of homes and the construction of public parking lots for businesses along North Avenue. One particular address, 1612 North 77th Avenue, was a source of discontent among neighboring residents.
But at the public hearing in April, there were no objections to ridding Elmwood Park of this dump.
One resident named George, who presumably was notified of the hearing because he lives nearby, said he had lived in Elmwood Park for 36 years. “I’m quite familiar with the traffic in the area over the last few years.
He suggested that the village install a “big stop sign” to prevent accidents and slow down vehicles driving “back and forth at high speed.”
Generally, the village’s redevelopment along North Avenue is part of a longer term plan that stems from the establishment of a tax increment financing district, or TIF district, on March 2, 2015.
“The TIF stretches from Wabansia Avenue on the north to North Avenue on the south, and from Harlem Avenue on the east to 72nd Court on the west,” according to the Pioneer Press.
When the village’s comprehensive plan was drafted in the early 2010s, officials considered the need for “design guidelines” that could aid the village as it built parking lots and established “landscaping” that screened those lots.
However, the Elmwood Park Advocate submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records containing design guidelines, and Village Clerk Gina Pesko said that the village “maintains no documents specific” to the request.
That strongly suggests that village management never followed the recommendation to create guidelines that could provide some direction as parking lots are built next to residents’ homes.
*Below is audio of the Plan, Zoning, and Development Commission public hearing(s) on April 20, 2025, that was obtained through FOIA.