Residents ask judge to block Fox River Grove garage project
Residents of the Welch's subdivision who said they'd take Fox River Grove to court over village plans to build a public works garage near their homes, have made good on that threat.
On Wednesday, 37 subdivision residents and two Lake Barrington residents sued the village in Lake County, asking that a judge issue an injunction to stop the project in its tracks.
In doing so, some Welch's residents say they are building on the success of a disconnection lawsuit that returned the subdivision's 22 acres to unincorporated McHenry County. An October verdict reversed Fox River Grove's forcible annexation of the homes in 2006.
Winning that lawsuit gives the group confidence to proceed with the fresh litigation, said Glenn Kayler, one of the plaintiffs.
“They're doing things that are not proper,” Kayler said of the village. “We just want to be left alone and we don't want Fox River Grove. We want nothing to do with them.”
The village plans to bulldoze a public works garage to expand its wastewater treatment plant in advance of pending regulations from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Officials will replace it with the new garage estimated to cost $3.5 million on County Line Road near Route 22.
The village will finance the project with debt certificates loans that carry higher interest rates because they don't use property taxes as back up funding sources. To repay the loan, officials will raise water and sewer rates.
According to court documents, the suit's plaintiffs claim the garage is “completely incompatible” with the neighborhood's quiet, rural surroundings. They also allege it will bring excess noise and traffic, present health and safety hazards and lower their property values.
The village board, they claim, was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” when it approved the project's zoning in August.
“It's just a totally inappropriate use for a residential zone,” said Daniel J. Dowd, who is representing the plaintiffs. “We think it's wrong and we intend to fight it.”
But Village Administrator Art Osten says the village has spent a lot of time and made every effort to address the group's concerns.
“So it's unfortunate that all (the lawsuit) is going to do is delay the project and increase the cost of it and delay a much-needed improvement for the village's residents,” Osten said.
Fox River Grove Village Attorney John Donahue said everything the village did was appropriate, but could not comment on the lawsuit further because he had not seen it. Village President Robert Nunamaker could not be reached for comment.