The Will County Board has given unanimous support for the latest plan to incorporate part of Homer Township into a new municipality.
The resolution pushed the Homer Glen plan closer to going on the April 3 ballot. The only step left is a petition before a Will County judge responsible for making a final decision on the proposed referendum question.
The petition already faces one formal objection, from developer Robert Gallagher, who owns hundreds of acres in Homer Township and recently won approval from the county to build 370 homes and a shopping center in the unincorporated area near 143rd Street and Bell Road.
County Board approval of the resolution came a week after the finance and land-use committees heard the incorporation proponents’ proposal and were satisfied that Homer Glen would be able to support itself financially and would comply with the county’s land-use plan.
Several County Board members wished the incorporation committee luck as they voted their support. An initiative to incorporate part of Homer Township failed last year because the County Board did not support a similar resolution.
There was a different tone to the effort this time, board members said.
The support of Lockport and New Lenox was key to the board’s receptiveness, said Ron Svara (R-Homer Township), the township’s supervisor before being elected to the County Board in November.
The two villages border the unincorporated parts of the township and have annexed township land.
Lemont has not cooperated with the incorporation effort.
Russ Petrizzo, a Homer Township trustee who heads the incorporation committee, said he hopes to meet with Lemont Mayor Rich Kwasneski or the village administrator, but nothing has yet been scheduled.
If the question goes on the ballot, Homer Township voters within the proposed village will decide whether to create the municipality.
If they approve the plan, Homer Glen would be created immediately. The town would have more than 18,000 residents and cover nearly 20 square miles, leaving roughly a third of the township’s western side unincorporated.
Incorporation committee members still have to work out how they would immediately govern the village.
A deal must be struck with Sheriff Brendan Ward to keep Will County sheriff’s police patrolling the area, and tax-anticipation warrants likely would be necessary to fund the village until a tax levy could be passed in the November election.
The new village should have a healthy tax base, made even stronger by Gallagher’s plans for 500,000 square feet of commercial development, including a 200,000-square-foot Meijer store.
The County Board approved plans for the Goodings Grove development in December.
The development will be within Homer Glen if the village is created, but incorporation would not affect the development plans, Petrizzo said.
