The Hobson West Board Neighbors UPDATE!
Planning Commission Case # 1564
(previous cases are #1460 and #1475)

Attend the meeting to see how this situation continues to unfold.

At the Sept 5 meeting we presented the result of our survey of 699 households in the surrounding area which showed that 1,061 persons, 95% of the persons, responding DO NOT APPROVE of the proposed change in zoning.

At the Sept 5 meeting the majority of the council members expressed interest in seeing this property becoming park land. The final motion directed the staff to begin discussion with the Park District regarding making this [parcel of land] into park land.

Reading the staff report for this meeting (Sept 17th) it appears that the staff has collected information from the Park District and the Conservation Foundation. However, there is no discussion about any meetings between the staffs, the Conservation Foundation, or any other entity concerning how the stated interest of the council members could be become a reality, or the range of available options.

There is no request for additional time to explore more fully what options may be viable. There is no mention of the expressed interest of the Park District and Conservation Foundation to participate in any multi-entity meeting that may be arranged by a governmental entity which took the lead on this subject.

The staff's recommendation at this time is to approve the Petitioner's request for rezoning.

This is not the situation that we all hoped for at the end of the Sept 5th council meeting. As private citizens we can express our interest in this subject. By contacting the various organizations we hoped we could act as a catalyst to have one of the governmental agencies take the lead to arrange a multi-entity meeting; which is what we thought the final council motion directed the staff to do. Unfortunately that did not appear to happen. Below is a time line of events as I know them.

Sept 5 - The city council tabled further discussion concerning this subject until the October 17th meeting. In addition a motion was passed that directed the staff to begin discussions with the Park District regarding acquiring this parcel of land as park land.

Sept 8 - Jim Berg (Hobson West resident) forwarded to the Mayor, city council members, and the Park District Executive Director, an email from Mr. Brook McDonald of The Conservation Foundation. In this email Mr. McDonald briefly described their "buy and hold" (for 24 months) program and offered their services.

Sept 14 - Mr. Dan Lobbes, Director of Land Protection at the Conservation Foundation, sent a letter to the Mayor and the Park District Executive Director. In the letter he elaborated on the program that allows them to purchase and hold land until the government body(s) can budget and acquire the funds to purchase subject land. He stated that they "... would like to participate in a joint meeting with the City and Park District to see if there's interest in acquiring the property and to discuss options to accomplish that."

Various Dates - George and I had a number of meetings and telephone conversations with Park District Commissioners and others. A joint venture of governmental entities, other entities and various county, state, and federal programs was considered a possible option. The DuPage County is trying to raise monies to purchase open lands and this property might qualify, they might be interested in attending a multi-entity meeting.

Various Dates - We have had a number of phone calls in to the Mayor's office and were referred to the City Manager's office to following up on what progress was being made on the Sept 5th directive from the City Council.

Sept 29 - Ms Barbara Heller, Executive Director of the Park District contacted me in response to my calls and stated that the Park District is not prepared at this time to purchase the land. She did express interest in the Park District "having a seat at the table" during any joint meeting of entities that are exploring various options that are available.

Oct 2 - Ms Marie Todd, President of the Park Board of Directors, sent a letter to the City Council members stating the Park District's position; they are not interested in purchasing the property. Also expressed was a willingness to participate in any meeting regarding the purchase of this property if another governmental agency would take the lead.

Oct 6 - Mr. Peter Burchard, City Manager, got back to me with a phone message (I was out of town) and thanked me for my numerous phone contacts over the recent weeks concerning my interest in this property. He also stated that he intends to find out what the Conservation Foundations would be able to bring to the table. He reminded me that anything to be done would be up to the City Council.

Oct 10 - I acknowledged by email Mr. Burchard's message and requested an opportunity to participate in any meeting with the Conservation Foundation. I also mentioned that I understood that Ms. Heller and Ms. Todd had expressed a willingness for the Park District to participate in such a meeting.

Oct 10 - Mr. Greg Jones, Planner on the City Staff, made the first contact by telephone with Mr.. Dan Lobbes of the Conservation Foundation. He requested information on the help that was available from the organization. Mr. Lobbes indicated that the organization considered this property to be consistent with their criteria and forwarded by email the documents that described their "buy and hold" program.

Dec 4 2006- We Lost in the city council...read more click here!

We are continuing to collect signatures (see Form to Express Your Opinion) to present at the City Council meeting on August 15th. As of July 13th we are up to 737 signatures.

Let's keep up the good work.
Doug Dallmer