With pools, porches, patios–not to mention a certain ice hockey arena–popping up without notice on DuPage Forest Preserve District property, commissioners decided Thursday to assign a watchdog staff member and committee to monitor developments planned by municipal neighbors.
The Forest Preserve District’s Finance and Land Acquisitions Committee will recommend that its members take on the monitoring role, if approved by President Dewey Pierotti (R-Addison), committee members said.
A staff member, yet to be assigned, will investigate what developments or zoning change requests potentially could affect Forest Preserve District property. The staff member would report the proposed development to the committee, which would decide whether the Forest Preserve District should announce its concerns or, in more severe cases, take legal action.
“We are a substantial landowner in the county and have 57 preserves,” Commissioner Roger Kotecki (R-Glen Ellyn) said.
“There are occasions when developments outside our border can at least potentially impact the preserve negatively,” Kotecki said. “If we own a wetland, and they cut off the supply of water by altering the drainage, you can kill the wetland. Or if you bring too much water into the wetland, you can flood out different plants or wipe out vegetation. That’s the sort of thing we need to be a little more alert on.”
Usually, the neighboring municipalities notify the district as required by law between 15 and 45 days before a public hearing is scheduled regarding rezoning requests or other action that could affect district property, attorney Scott Day said.
Some municipalities are more responsible in notifying the district than others, he said.
Commissioners cited several examples in which they believe the district needed to play a stronger role:
– Good Samaritan Hospital’s construction of a $16.3 million wellness center next to Lyman Woods in Downers Grove, which recently required the removal of 300 trees.
– Expansion of Turano’s Bakery several years ago in Bloomingdale, which was constructed adjacent to a forest preserve with no setback.
– The 34,000-square-foot Edge ice arena in Bensenville, built without the Forest Preserve District’s knowledge on district-owned land that was set aside for open space and stormwater management in the 1980s. Attorneys for the Forest Preserve District and Bensenville are still haggling over a legal settlement regarding the land.
“There have been numerous encroachments over the years on Forest Preserve District properties,” said Commissioner William Maio (R-Itasca), who heads the Land Acquisitions Committee. “We can’t object to it if we don’t know about it. We’ve had pools, porches and patios.”
Also during Thursday’s meeting, the committee delayed discussion on a proposed agreement with the Conservation Foundation. The agreement, if approved, calls for the foundation to identify property owners interested in preserving their land in return for tax incentives.
The Forest Preserve District would then take over responsibility for the easements.
The district would pay the foundation 20 percent of each easement’s value, totaling a maximum $100,000 annually. Staff members, however, said they already are having trouble complying with state law in monitoring current conservation easements.
Commissioner Michael Formento (R-Glen Ellyn) also had some reservations.
“I don’t see the value in it,” he said. “What you’re doing is putting in a middleman. Do we need a middleman?”
