Willow Springs and Burr Ridge officials will meet this month to try to work out border differences over the development of about 400 acres of unincorporated Cook County land that includes the Santa Fe Speedway property.
The two communities have tangled over annexations in the past. The current wrangling is over the proposed annexation by Willow Springs of 100 acres, including the shuttered speedway, that would extend the village’s borders to County Line Road on the west, north and south of 91st Street.
Burr Ridge views County Line Road north of 91st Street as a natural extension of its boundaries. Except for the Santa Fe Speedway, the 400 acres include land north and east of County Line Road.
Willow Springs officials took offense when Burr Ridge Trustee Dolores Cizek said she believes Willow Springs “has run amok” in its expansionist policies.
James T. Quas, Willow Springs village president, said his village will spend more than $35,000 to hire a consultant to come up with a plan for the disputed area, as well as other areas in the village that may be developed.
Burr Ridge recently hired its own consulting firm to review a comprehensive land-use plan.
Quas and other Willow Springs officials point out that Willow Springs was incorporated 106 years ago and that Burr Ridge was incorporated in 1956.
“Part of this is comical,” said Willow Springs Trustee Nancy Katz. “Burr Ridge was very, very tiny and probably half of what is Burr Ridge now should have been Willow Springs, but we weren’t expanding our borders at all.”
Burr Ridge wants to establish a fixed boundary in the disputed area. Willow Springs wants the villages to agree to a planning concept for the area and then allow developers to choose a village for annexation. Officials from the two villages will meet Tuesday.
In the recent past, Burr Ridge and Willow Springs have sparred over three annexations. Arrowhead Farms, south of 83rd Street about midway between Wolf and County Line Roads, was annexed to Burr Ridge. Nearby Trinity Lutheran School, also on the south side of 83rd Street, was annexed to Willow Springs even though Trinity Lutheran Church, across the street on 83rd, is in Burr Ridge.
The third parcel at 7651 S. Wolf Rd. was annexed to Willow Springs even though it lies between the Pleasantview Fire Protection District and Walker Park–both in Burr Ridge.
Willow Springs has commissioned another study to determine if the proposed Santa Fe development is economically feasible.
If Willow Springs goes ahead with annexation of the proposed Santa Fe development, it would be the largest expansion in the village’s history and would stretch its borders in a finger-like southwesterly direction.
