CFC acquires lots in Lake Barrington for nature preserve

Citizens for Conservation announced Wednesday that it has acquired three buildable lots in Lake Barrington from the bank that had taken possession of them to add to the group’s Flint Creek Savanna property, expanding it by more than two acres.

The group now has acquired all four lots in the Foley Court subdivision in Cuba Township. It acquired one lot in 2005 and received as a donation more than five acres of adjacent wetlands that created an ecological buffer between the proposed development and Flint Creek Savanna preserve.

“When we learned that the three remaining lots of the Foley Court subdivision were about to be sold for development, we rapidly mobilized to try to preserve them,” said CFC Land Preservation Chairman Alberto Moriondo.

The group got a much better price than was possible in 2005, so it paid to wait, he said.

Another party was negotiating with the bank to buy one of the lots, so the CFC gave that party an option on the lot.

Moriondo said CFC wouldn’t object to one house on the site, and a sale would mitigate CFC’s financial commitment. “We see this as a win-win situation for all parties involved.”

Current market conditions are very favorable for land preservation and the group is committed to gaining control of more land, he said.

Since 2005, CFC has secured more than 50 acres of open space in the Barrington area, both directly and by working with private entities and local governments. CFC has 376 acres under management and over the past 40 years has helped protect more than 3,000 acres in the Barrington Area Council of Governments (BACOG) area.

Incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 1971, CFC acquires and receives donations of

land for preservation and restoration while also providing both adult and children’s education to local communities. For more information, visit citizensforconservation.org.