Dear Friends and Neighbors.

Happy New Year! We hope your 2026 is off to a great start!

Our Assembly Hall Committee continues to be busy as they place the final touches on a new hall design that they are eager to share with the full community. On December 17th, the full committee met to review the updated designs and discuss the work that has been ongoing with Executive Committee and our architect. Following the presentation and good discussion, the Assembly Hall Committee approved the new plan to be shared with the community and to be brought before the DLA Board for approval for a formal community vote.

This month there will be two scheduled events for leaseholders to learn more about this project, that we hope you can attend.

January 21 - 7:00 pm - Assembly Hall Committee Presentation to the Community on Redesigned Hall - Q&A Session
At this meeting, the Assembly Hall Committee will review with the community the timeline for the hall project up to the variance meetings at the town and county level, share the efforts of the committee to address identified variances and concerns expressed by community members, and present the proposed redesigned hall for your review and questions. The committee is excited to share this newly designed hall with the community, and look forward to your participation.

January 29 - 7:00 pm - DLA Board Meeting
This will be a called Board Meeting, as opposed to a "special board meeting", which means it will follow a full agenda, allowing the Board to go through items and work conducted since the last scheduled DLA meeting in October, 2025. An included agenda item will be a presentation from the Hall Committee requesting formal approval for the new design by the DLA Board. If approved, the committee will ask the Board to initiate a formal vote of all leaseholders to approve the project and identified "not to exceed" project cost. Electronic and requested paper ballots will be sent out following the meeting.

February 13 - If the project is approved by the DLA Board, voting concludes and results shared with the community on February 15.

Individual meeting notices and ZOOM links will be sent out in advance of these meetings.

We would like to once again thank all of the members of the committee who have dedicated their time and energy to keep this project moving forward to address the needs of our community and to provide us with a new Assembly Hall!

Sincerely,

The Assembly Hall Executive Committee

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Since our last communication there have been some positive developments with our objective to replace Assembly Hall.

We have continued our discussions with Walworth County and believe that we have come up with a solution regarding the parking requirements, line of sight and setback variances that were hindering our project moving forward. The primary concern was the parking issue and the requirement, based on occupancy capacity, of 1 parking space for every 3 individuals. In further discussions with the county, we were able to come to an agreement that the increased parking requirement would be based upon any proposed increased occupancy of the new hall. Keeping the requirements identified by the community in the forefront and working to address the concerns expressed through the variance appeal, we developed an enhanced set of design criteria that does not increase the hall occupancy and thus requires no additional parking but will provide a much-improved hall in both function and design.

With an available solution with the county identified, we enlisted ALA to take a new look at the project, working within these parameters:

• To address the neighbors’ concerns over their view the current footprint on the Pottawatomi side will be maintained as is.
• On the Assembly Lane side, we will square off the building, recovering the space that is lost today and allowing us to meet our identified storage and ADA restroom goals.
• The new hall will be constructed with no accessibility barriers, including ADA compliant restrooms, accessible entry, and no steps within the main floor and patio area.
• Adequate main floor storage will be provided for the tables, chairs and other large items.
• The building is located on the lot to maximize the views of the lake and park.
• The main hall is configured with sliding and/or decorative garage style doors providing the ability to easily expand the available space on both the lake and Pottawatomi sides.
• The warming kitchen is large enough to support current and future park events. The kitchen area can be secured, while still allowing full access to other areas of the building.
• The garage area will adequately hold the park vehicles, with enough depth for the truck, plow and salt spreader attached.
• The mailroom is designed with mail slots for all residents, and shelving for the ever-increasing package deliveries. As an additional note, the executive committee did discuss in detail the potential of building a separate building for the mailroom but due to cost, security, and location concerns, did not feel it was in best interest of the community to pursue.
• Restrooms are designed with two stalls each, one ADA accessible. One bathroom to be reinforced as an emergency shelter area from storms.
• A basement except under the garage, allowing for additional storage and weather shelter.
• The vision triangle on the northeast side will be addressed, removing all variances.

September 23, 2025

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As part of our continued effort to keep you informed on our progress with the Assembly Hall Project, attached is the official notice from the Walworth County Board of Adjustment. You may remember that we were asking for three variances. In the attached decision, you will find that all three variances were denied. Below we have also attached a copy of an article from the Enterprise, reporting on the actions at the Town of Delavan. The Town of Delavan also recommended denying all three variance requests.

The vision triangle and setback variance requests can be addressed by a redesign. They are specific to the Pottawatomi side of the building. By addressing those issues, we believe that we would also be able to address the concerns expressed by community members specific to the adjacent property and potential impact on their view.

Specific to parking, there was no direct guidance or suggestion by either the town or county as to how we could address the required 93 parking spaces. There is no pathway forward with any rebuild unless we can get some relief regarding the required parking. I have begun the process of attempting to seek guidance and feedback at the County level by working with the Senior Zoning Officer. I have provided them with some suggested solutions and hope we can together find a solution that addresses their concerns, while meeting the needs of our community.

We will continue to share updates as they are made available and will discuss this further at our October Board meeting.

Thank you,

John A Glimco

DELAVAN’S ONLY LOCALLY PUBLISHED NEWSPAPER ALSO SERVING DARIEN
Board denies new Assembly Hall plans
By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT

The Town of Delavan denied three variances filed by the Delavan Lake Assembly on behalf of the Assembly Park subdivision on Sept. 9. The variances would have allowed for the construction of a new Assembly Hall community building.

The Delavan Lake Assembly has been planning for a new hall since 2018. The new 4,104 square foot building would cost $1.25 million. Each leaseholder would pay $5,950 toward that cost.

The Delavan Lake Assembly first tried to get a permit from the Walworth County Land Use and Resource Management department. The request was denied on July 23 because the request needed three variances to proceed. The DLA requested the needed variances from the Town of Delavan, first appearing before the Plan Commission. The Plan Commission recommended denying the request by a 4-1 vote to the full Town Board.

The necessary variances included a request to have the street setback adjusted to 7.6 feet from Pottawatomi Drive, allow a raised patio and retaining wall higher than 2.5 feet, and waiving the requirement to have 93 parking spaces.

Katie O’Halloran, Treasurer of the DLA, said building a new hall has been a priority of leaseholders for years. A committee was created and a vote was taken to gauge support for the plan. O’Halloran said 54% of those who voted supported the plan. “As a board, we clearly received our mandate for how to proceed,” she said.

O’Halloran said that Assembly Park is unique and it was not a surprise the project needed to have variances approved. “While we would all like to keep the Assembly Park of yesteryear, we are evolving like our neighboring communities,” she said.

Chad Pollard, an attorney for a neighbor who is opposed to the project, said the project does not meet the qualifications for any of the three variances. Pollard said in order to qualify for variances the applicant must show unique property limitations, an unnecessary hardship and that the project will not do harm to public interests. Pollard said this project was a want, not a need. He also said the very building the Assembly claimed caused them a hardship has been in use all summer. Pollard said the plans were extravagant and the DLA could have planned a building that would have occupied the existing footprint and not needed any variances. He said the plans call for a 7,000-squarefoot building that will obstruct the valuable lake view of his client.

Greg Selep, DLA secretary, said Pollard was incorrect in claiming the new building is planned to be 7,000 square feet. He said it would be about 3,800 square feet. Paperwork submitted to the town says the building will be 3,752 square feet on the main level and 4,104 square feet total counting the basement.

Much discussion was had about the alleged lake view of the resident who hired Pollard and if the building was a want or a need. Tim Somen, an attorney representing the DLA, spoke about how the DLA is making do with what they have but the current buildingis failing, unsafe, and unsanitary.

Cheryl Kennedy opposed the new building. She said she and her husband do have a view of the lake that would be obstructed by this building. She said she knew the DLA had worked hard on the plan, but she wants it to remain within its current footprint.

Chairman Mary Knipper said the vote in favor of the new building was 101-86. She said she did not consider that to be a mandate, especially considering the number of letters the board received opposing it. Knipper also questioned why the DLA does not seem to have a Plan B if this plan does not get approved. She also suggested the DLA look at other locations to store things so the new building did not have to be so big.

Bill Thummel said he was not moved by the lack of a mandate. The vote was a majority and the majority wins, he said.

Knipper made the motion to deny all three variances. The DLA had requested that at least the parking restriction variance be granted because that will be needed no matter what is done. The board voted 2-1 to deny all three. Mary Pat O’Connor recused herself because she lives in Assembly Park and Hugh Charvat was absent.

Knipper did tell the DLA that the town’s decision was only advisory. The final word would come from the Walworth County Board of Adjustment. That body met on Sept. 10 and 11 and also denied all three variances.

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

As part of our continued effort to keep you informed on our progress with the Assembly Hall Project, attached is the official notice from the Walworth County Board of Adjustment. You may remember that we were asking for three variances. In the attached decision, you will find that all three variances were denied. Below we have also attached a copy of an article from the Enterprise, reporting on the actions at the Town of Delavan. The Town of Delavan also recommended denying all three variance requests.

The vision triangle and setback variance requests can be addressed by a redesign. They are specific to the Pottawatomi side of the building. By addressing those issues, we believe that we would also be able to address the concerns expressed by community members specific to the adjacent property and potential impact on their view.

Specific to parking, there was no direct guidance or suggestion by either the town or county as to how we could address the required 93 parking spaces. There is no pathway forward with any rebuild unless we can get some relief regarding the required parking. I have begun the process of attempting to seek guidance and feedback at the County level by working with the Senior Zoning Officer. I have provided them with some suggested solutions and hope we can together find a solution that addresses their concerns, while meeting the needs of our community.

We will continue to share updates as they are made available and will discuss this further at our October Board meeting.

Thank you,

John A Glimco