Although they share a border, things were not necessarily neighborly when Lockport officials turned out recently to oppose Homer Township’s bid to keep residential density at bay by purchasing up to $8 million worth of open space.
Lockport Mayor Frank Mitchell was among more than 100 people who attended a public hearing on a township proposal to purchase about 300 acres throughout the township and preserve it as open space.
Although most Homer Township residents seemed to favor the proposal, Mitchell opposed it.
“It appears the main objective of the plan is to acquire properties to stop neighboring municipalities from annexing into the township, not to acquire properties that are best suited to satisfy the need for open space,” he said.
The meeting was held to winnow the list of about 400 properties the township has identified for possible purchase. Some property owners attended the meeting to ask that their parcels be deleted from the list.
The proposal would go before voters in a referendum, possibly in November.
Jim Davis, a member of the Preserve Homer Committee, which spearheaded the plan, said the power of eminent domain would be used sparingly to acquire open space. For example, he said, it cannot be used to acquire farm property of more than 10 acres.
He drew applause when he said: “We want to stop senseless sprawl. We don’t want to be another Naperville. Once this land is developed, it’s gone forever as open space.”
Lockport has asked that several properties be removed from the list, including land that houses its police station and a water tower, and a 13-acre parcel at Farrell Road and Illinois Highway 7 that is the site of a proposed Jewel Food Store.
Mitchell said the proposal to purchase prime real estate and preserve it as open space would deprive local governmental bodies of sales and property taxes.
Lockport and Homer Township officials have been at loggerheads for more than a year over whether Lockport will annex and gain control of land in the township, particularly property near the proposed Interstate Highway 355 extension.
Lockport officials said the bid to buy open space contradicts their comprehensive plan and Homer’s land-use map, which call for a commercial and light-industrial corridor near the highway extension.
But Homer Township Supervisor Ron Svara has said that having tracts of open space may be the only way to reduce residential density, prevent overcrowding of schools and retain the township’s semirural atmosphere.
