Empty lot topic of debate in Geneva

The state of the empty lot where the Rockwater Grill restaurant was supposed to be built became the issue of some heated discussion Monday night at a Geneva committee of the whole meeting, as 5th Ward Alderman Paul DesCoteaux complained about its appearance.

The lot, at 106 N. Bennett St. used to house the Hillquist Excavating Business. The building was torn down after the property was sold in October 2005 to Riverfront Geneva LLC, which intended to build Rockwater. Plans for that restaurant fell through.

The gravel lot, on the east side of the Fox River, is dotted with weeds and a few piles of asphalt debris and rocks. There is a plywood sign bearing the spray-painted address and a faded city site-inspection form, propped up on the ground by some debris.

DesCoteaux, whose ward the property is in, claimed Monday he has not gotten a satisfactory answer "from the current administration" about making the lot look better.

"The neighbors deserve more than they're getting," he said.

May 1, the property's owner submitted new plans to the city for another restaurant. Also May 1, the bank holding the mortgage to the property filed a lis pendens in Kane County Court, announcing its intention to foreclose on the property's mortgage. Riverfront LLC's managers and members are listed by the Kane County Recorder of Deeds as Dietrich Werner and Tracy Burnidge. Burnidge, a property developer, is the owner of TAB Construction of Wasco and president of Situs Commercial Realty of St. Charles.

City administrator Mary McKittrick said the property was inspected last Thursday or Friday by a city inspector, but she did not know what kind of notice was given to the property owner. Third Ward Alderman Dawn Vogelsberg said that when she walked by the lot this past weekend, the weeds had been cut.

First Ward Alderman Sam Hill, who represents the area west of the property across the river, said his constituents have complained to him about the site.

"Maybe we need a policy that when a building is leveled they have a certain amount of time to get it improved, whether it is seeded or wood removal or boulders removed," he said.

Other aldermen noted there are other vacant lots in town, including one at Fourth and State streets, that are in similar shape. Vogelsberg noted that several lots near East Side Drive and State Street in her ward looked bad for a long time. An Aldi grocery store recently opened on one of them.

Other aldermen wondered whether the city could do anything to make a private property owner make a vacant lot look nicer, such as by planting and maintaining a lawn.

"What is the code? Dirt-covered lots come in all sorts of varieties," said 1st Ward Alderman Chuck Brown.