Naperville parks extend Hobson West deadline
The Naperville Park District will have an extra month to negotiate a deal to purchase the land between the ponds of Hobson West, it announced Wednesday.
However, city councilmen decided the city will not be stepping in to help with the deal.
The land in question is between Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street in the Hobson West neighborhood where the park district owns the 9 acres that make up two ponds.
For more than two years, residents have been fighting to keep the 6 acres between the ponds as open space and have been urging the park district to purchase it from Crestview Builders to create a 15-acre park.
A year ago, the city council rezoned the land to be used for a townhouse development but forbade Crestview from building on it for a year. That deadline expired Wednesday.
However, park district attorney Rachel Robert announced Wednesday night it had reached an agreement with Crestview to extend the deadline until Jan. 30 so the sides can continue to negotiate.
The park district has offered $2.5 million for the land while Crestview is asking for $4.1 million.
In its Dec. 3 offer letter, the park district acknowledged that its offer is $200,000 less than Crestview originally paid for the property and is below fair cash market value as given by an appraiser. However, the district said creating recreation for the site would be expensive.
Robert said the park district is hoping to partner with another government entity to make the purchase possible.
Councilman Doug Krause suggested the city orchestrate a land swap and Councilman Richard Furstenau proposed the city consider giving the park district a no-interest loan.
"I think the council is letting a great opportunity for decades to go by," Furstenau said. "Once that thing is built on it's never going to be available again … and $1 million for property like that is going to seem like chump change in 10 years."
However, others said while they'd like to see the park district make the purchase, it is not within the city's purview to step in. Mayor George Pradel said the park district has not come to the council seeking help.
"I know people are looking at us and saying why don't you pony up … and I'd love to, but the fact of the matter is we're looking at a $1.75 million hole in our budget this year because of revenues dropping … so this is something the park district needs to address," said Councilman John Rosanova, who suggested the park district consider asking voters for the money through a referendum.
Pradel, Rosanova, Kenn Miller, James Boyajian and Grant Wehrli voted to stay out of the matter, defeating Furstenau, Krause, Darlene Senger and Robert Fieseler, who voted to provide assistance.