Roselle, Hanover Park OK boundary pact along Gary Avenue

Roselle and Hanover Park have approved a new boundary agreement outlining each village’s claim to annex unincorporated land between the towns.

The pact applies to parcels south of Lake Street along Gary Avenue. It makes Gary the dividing line between both villages for the next 20 years, with Roselle getting land east of Gary.

Roselle village board members adopted the deal this week.

Officials say the agreement gives the village two decades to manage the busy southeast corner of Gary and Lake.

Patrick Watkins, community development director, said establishing a boundary prevents developers from playing one jurisdiction off another for financial or zoning benefits.

He said boundary agreements also help developers by letting them know which jurisdiction to approach about a specific piece of land. “Instead of having to talk to two or three communities,” Watkins said, “they know that this land ultimately will be served by this community.”

Roselle already has a boundary agreement that gives Bloomingdale a claim on unincorporated land south of Foster Avenue along Gary.