Sugar Grove turns down landfill plan
The Sugar Grove village board decided Monday it does not want to have a construction debris landfill built on Harter Road.
Trustees voted unanimously against a proposed annexation agreement with Heartland Recycling. The company had asked to annex 48 acres at the northwest corner of Harter Road and Sugar Grove Parkway (Route 47) and wanted to rezone the land from a business designation to one that allows manufacturing.
More than 105 people attended a public hearing Monday before the vote. Almost all speakers opposed the request, as did at least five dozen who didn't want to speak but submitted slips indicating they opposed the project. The crowd gave the board a standing ovation after the vote.
Many had concerns about pollutants from the debris infiltrating groundwater, particularly since many nearby residents in the unincorporated area have their own water wells for household use. The area has a high water table, and nearby residents are still using shallow wells, they said, disputing statements by Heartland that wells in the area were deep and would not be affected if pollutants escaped the landfill.
They also believed it would be dangerous for school buses and other school-related traffic serving nearby Harter Middle School, as the entrance to the landfill would be on Harter, and an estimated 70 trucks a day would be dumping there.
The village's Plan Commission voted against the request in January.
Heartland initially said it would accept asphalt at the landfill and crush concrete. It later said it would not do either.
Feltes Holding Inc. owns the site. It was mined for sand and gravel from at least 1939 through the late 1980s, according to the village.
The company intended to fill the former mined areas, then build on the site.
The company could pursue its plan through Kane County.
Representatives were not available for comment after the meeting.