Though a Cook County Forest Preserve committee Monday rejected a proposal by Rosemont to pay $1.8 million for the long-term use of 2 acres of Forest Preserve land, the committee left the door open for a higher offer.
Rosemont Mayor Donald Stephens had agreed to give the cash-strapped Forest Preserve District $1.8 million to purchase a 31-acre parcel that the district wants for a greenway between southwest suburban McGinnis Slough and Tampier Lake.
In exchange, Stephens wanted the district to give Rosemont a long-term lease on 2 acres of Forest Preserve land the village needs to expand the Rosemont Convention Center.
Rosemont officials said Monday that Stephens, who was out of town, was heartened that the Citizens Advisory Committee of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, which historically has been loath to make deals on Forest Preserve land, would reconsider a higher offer by Rosemont.
“It’s good news for Rosemont,” said Gary Mack, a spokesman for Stephens.
“This is not a dead issue by any means,” Mack said. “It seems like a philosophical obstacle has been overcome. It’s clearly an issue about money, and I’m convinced that we have the votes to approve this once the issue of money does get resolved.”
Last week, Rosemont officials sweetened the offer by agreeing to build and maintain nearly a mile of scenic pathways through Forest Preserve District land along the Des Plaines River in Rosemont. The estimated cost of the river walk project is $600,000 to $700,000, Mack said.
The land swap is important as well as thorny for land-use advocates and commissioners of the Forest Preserve District. On one hand, there is reluctance to set a precedent of negotiating away land. On the other, the proceeds from the Rosemont deal would go to an open-space project dear to Forest Preserve District officials and open space advocates.
Joseph Nevius, general superintendent of the Forest Preserve District who attended the executive session, said he believed the committee would consider another offer in the future.
“Based on the financial concerns the district has and the need to expand Forest Preserve District land, we have to consider everything on a case-by-case basis,” Nevius said. “That’s what was done here today, and that’s what they’ll continue to do.”
Nevius said that there is an important distinction under the terms of Stephens’ offer. The district would not sell the 2 acres but rather would grant a license for its long-term use, he said.
That might be a “fine difference” to open land advocates who do not want the Forest Preserve District to sell any of its holdings, Nevius said, “but that’s the kind of thing that might make the difference” in approving any future deal with Stephens.
The Palos-Orland Conservation Committee has flip-flopped on the Rosemont deal, initially embracing it and now opposing it. Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin, whose village strongly wants the greenway, appeared with Stephens last year extolling the proposed deal.
Cook County Commissioner Herb Schumann, also an advocate for the greenway, repeated statements Monday that the committee should continue to consider a possible deal with Rosemont.
“I don’t see that much value in the 2 acres, especially compared to the value of the land we need to acquire immediately for the greenway,” he said. “To me, there’s no contest.”
Representatives of the OpenLands Project, however, criticized the committee’s open stance.
“We think they need to put this issue to rest, close it out and say forest preserve land is not for sale at any price,” said Jonathan Beck, policy coordinator for OpenLands. “This would set a horrible precedent if approved.”
The forest preserve committee discussed Stephens’ offer in closed, executive session and then voted in public to reject it.
“Our decision was based on the offer that was made,” said Lester Crown, co-chairman of the advisory committee, when asked if the issue was dead. “We had an offer in hand and we had to decide on that offer.”
The advisory committee can only give a recommendation to the Cook County Forest Preserve Board of Commissioners, but the commissioners have never gone against the committee’s advice. In the past, the committee has said no to offers to buy or swap other forest preserve property.
In 1946, Secretary of War Robert Patterson was turned down by the committee when he wanted land in the Palos area for Argonne National Laboratory. And, in 1956, the committee rejected trustees of the University of Illinois when they wanted to buy forest preserve land and turn it into what is now the University of Illinois at Chicago, on the Near West Side.
“Although we’re certainly not happy with what happened today,” Mack said, “it is definitely good news, to the extent that the issue is still out there and we will have the ability to come back and restructure the offer.”
