The owners of a centennial farm key to the proposed NorthPoint development in Elwood are suing the village, saying it is trying to annex more of their farm than the family approved in 2007.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 8 in Will County Circuit Court, contends the Coldwaters agreed to a limited annexation of property along West Mississippi Avenue and that they did not sign off on the agreement the village has filed showing property annexed to Old Chicago Road.
The annexation is key to NorthPoint’s controversial proposed Compass Business Park, an 851-acre warehouse, distribution and light manufacturing development in Jackson Township east of Route 53 between Manhattan and Elwood. While 176 acres of the development are within Elwood village limits, the remaining 675 acres are not. The Coldwater’s farm, as the village says it is annexed to Old Chicago Road, is the only way the remaining 675 acres can be annexed into the village.
Despite conflicting recorded documents, village officials maintain the annexation that goes to Old Chicago Road is correct.
“While there may have been some clerical errors made, that does not affect the validity of the annexation,” Elwood Village Attorney David Silverman said of the Coldwater property.
The Coldwaters contend the agreement in 2007 for the property was limited to 1049 feet, not the entire parcel. The lawsuit notes the Village of Elwood correctly signed an annexation agreement, but the ordinance for the agreement contained an incorrect legal description of the property.
In October of 2008, the village filed a corrected version of the ordinance that matched the agreement but then re-filed what they contend was the incorrect ordinance this year.
The Coldwater’s attorney, Carl Buck, said the issue came to light this year when the Coldwaters, who did not believe their property was in the village limits, were issued a notice from the Will County Clerk’s Office regarding the annexation.
In an email to the County Clerk’s Office, Julie Coldwater says the family is fighting the annexation.
“Please know that we assert that the plat submitted in the June filing from Elwood is a mistake, at the least, and likely fraudulent,” Julie Coldwater wrote in the email dated August 30, 2017. “We feel the village is attempting to push through the fraudulent legal description and plat in order to be able to annex property to the east of Old Chicago Road in Jackson Township.”
NorthPoint’s proposed development has drawn sharp criticism from residents, some of whom formed a Just Say No to NorthPoint group that launched a petition drive, claiming the project would threaten their quality of life, safety and further clog congested roads.
Will County Executive Larry Walsh, a Jackson Township Democrat, has opposed the project along with the Jackson Township Board of Trustees, Elwood School District 203 and environmental groups.
Adding to the controversy, Elwood Village President Todd Matichak resigned Thursday, less than a week after the lawsuit was filed and days before a public hearing is scheduled on NorthPoint’s proposed development.
Matichak could not be reached for comment Thursday.
A news release from the Village of Elwood notes that Matichak resigned for “personal reasons.”
“It has been my great privilege and honor to serve the residents of the Village of Elwood as their Mayor,” Matichak said in the news release. “I am grateful for having worked with public officials and staff who are committed to doing what is best for the village.”
The Coldwaters are scheduled to appear in court on March 28, but Buck said the case likely would be rescheduled to an earlier date.
A public hearing for the NorthPoint development is scheduled for Tuesday.
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
