School Board Vote Leaves Tinley Walmart Plan Looking Dead

The Summit Hill School Board shot down tax breaks for a proposed Tinley Park Walmart and Sam's Club, apparently killing plans for the superstores, the SouthtownStar reported.

Tinley Park officials requested tax breaks from local school districts and the Frankfort Square Park District for the proposed 72-acre Walmart-Sam's Club development next to Brookside Marketplace.

But Summit Hill School District 161 Board members apparently didn't buy what Tinley was selling and voted against letting the megastore out of paying $5.4 million in taxes.

The stores were planned to go in at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue. The development called for the construction of a 323,000-square-foot shopping center. While the $50 million project is within Tinley Park’s boundaries, the new development would potentially affect residents in Frankfort Square and Mokena.

About 90 residents at Wednesday night's school board meeting applauded when a Tinley Park trustee announced that voting against the tax breaks would leave the beanfield on the proposed construction site "undeveloped for the foreseeable future," the SouthtownStar story said.

The story also noted that many residents were against the project.

"Nicholas Tarala, a Frankfort resident who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting, derided Wal-Mart as a 'corporate monster,' contending that the stores would have a negative impact on District 161 in the long run," the report said.

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