“Everybody dreams of living on an island,” says developer John Wendland.
But the island he has in mind has clouds of controversy hovering over it.
Wendland believes uninhabited Plum Island should be developed for people, while opponents want to leave it for the birds — specifically bald eagles.
Wendland, vice president of Starved Rock Island LLC of Orland Park, says his investment group proposes to build 51 log cabins on Plum Island, in the middle of the Illinois River across from Starved Rock State Park, some 80 miles southwest of Chicago.
Wendland’s plans for the island aren’t the first. The same group of investors had proposed a hotel and resort for the island in 2001. That idea didn’t fly.
Now Wendland and the investors plan 1,500-square-foot summer vacation homes on half-acre lots. The development would cover the north half of the 55-acre island. Lots are priced from $130,000 to $240,000. Rustic cabins, meant to mirror the architecture at the state park, start at $90,000, according to Wendland.
A 60-slip marina would be part of the project, because access to the island is only by boat. A slip would be included in the price.
Wendland says deposits on options to buy the homes, contingent on zoning and other approvals, have been received for two-thirds of the cabins.
“When completed, the residences will generate $300,000 in property taxes, and will not burden the schools because they will be occupied only in summer,” Wendland contends.
Despite these assurances, opposition to the housing development has been intense.
“We want to make sure it doesn’t happen,” says Eric Schuler, policy adviser to Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who began a Save Plum Island online petition drive, maintaining that “developers who threaten eagle habitats, such as those at Plum Island, will harm ecosystem, cut tourism revenue and scare away the eagles permanently for a fast buck.”
Schuler says more than 25,000 online petitions have been received since July 3. “These petitions, which are non-binding, have been from Illinois and all over the world. We want to make sure that a natural habitat is preserved.”
The latest potential roadblock to residential development of the island has come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which charged Starved Rock Island LLC is selling property without the proper permits.
Brian Sullivan, a public affairs specialist for HUD in Washington, D.C., says that the Starved Rock LLC project falls under the Interstate Land Full Disclosure Act.
“HUD is conducting an ongoing investigation, but no determination has yet been made,” Sullivan says.
“We have responded to HUD and are waiting for a response. Everything is now on hold,” Wendland says.
“We bought the island three years ago for about $480,000. While seasonal flooding affects low-lying parts of the island, the homes will be built on land higher than the nearby dam,” he says.
Wendland notes that the high ground was created when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredged the river years ago.
Residential development of the island also has been opposed by the Audubon Society, because bald eagles congregate on the island in winter.
Don Goerne, chairman of the Friends of Plum Island Committee, says 51 bald eagles were spotted wintering on Plum Island last January. “They eat fish caught in the open water below the dam. The proposed development could disturb the birds,” he says.
Goerne, who lives in the area, notes that the island had an airstrip in the 1960s and 1970s, and a cable car linked the island to the mainland.
He lists other arguments against residential development: “The homes could be seen from atop Starved Rock and that would hurt the view. Also, the Midwest SOARRING Foundationmaintains the island should remain vacant because it is a sacred Native American site with an ancient village and burial ground.”
Joseph Standing Bear Schranz, president of the Midwest SOARRING (Save Our Ancestors Remains and Resources and Indigenous Network Group) Foundation. “There are at least 2 acres of burial sites on the island and probably more,” Schranz says. “It’s a sacred site. There are plenty of other places to build.”
Wendland says that the southern half of the island will be dedicated as a nature preserve, including 2 acres surveyed by the University of Illinois and discovered to have been a Native American hunting camp, but not a burial site.
“Before construction we’ll do another search of the area for Native American artifacts,” Wendland says.
Political pressure against his development on Plum Island began in late spring, according to Wendland. “The lieutenant governor wanted the state to buy the island, then it was discovered that there was no money for that,” he says.
The Corps of Engineers also has a say in the future of Plum Island. “We’re not playing politics, but we have two easements to protect on Plum Island,” says Ron Fournier, spokesman for the corps’ Rock Island District.
“One of the easements is for dumping dredged material from the river, and the other is a flooding easement, which means we could flood the entire island if that were necessary because of high water. The river may never flood that high, but it could be a risk for anything built on the island,” Fournier explains.
He adds that the corps would consider an alternate site for dumping dredged material. It would be purchased by the developer and result in no added costs to the federal government. “So far, no alternate sites have been proposed to us,” he says.
“We haven’t received any concrete plans for developing the island yet,” says Scott Cofoid, building inspector, zoning officer and flood plain official for the Village of Utica and field operations supervisor in the Department of Environmental Services and Development for LaSalle County.
Cofoid says the island is in unincorporated LaSalle County, but falls under the 1.5-mile zoning district of Utica.
“The island is zoned R-1 single-family residential, but the developer would need subdivision approval from both the county and the village,” Cofoid says.
He adds that approvals also would be needed from the Corps of Engineers, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.
“The general feeling of people here is that the island should remain open,” Cofoid says.
Angela Brown, village clerk of Utica, says 3,500 form letters against housing development on the island have been received.
The state park, on the south side of the river across from the island, is known for its 18 canyons, rock formations and waterfalls. In 1673, French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette passed here on their way to the Mississippi.
