Campton Hills lives on

Campton Hills apparently is the little village that could.

On Tuesday, voters rejected a proposal to reverse the 22-square-mile area's controversial incorporation just 18 months after they approved it. In other words, the village lives on.

"Now, we need everyone's help to bring our community back together," Village President Patsy Smith said at an Election Night rally.

With all 12 precincts reporting, 7,140 voters turned out in Campton Hills with 52 percent voting against dissolution and 47 percent voting in support of it, according to unofficial results. The election offered what many hope will be the final word on the village's existence after more than a year of division and turmoil.

"There's a lot of work to be done, I think, for everybody in the community," said dissolution proponent Chris Baldwin, who congratulated village supporters on the election's outcome. "We've got to figure out how to live as a community."

Campton Hills came to be after a group of would-be villagers successfully petitioned Kane County to let voters decide whether the area should incorporate.

Supporters argued incorporation would help protect the area's "semirural" character by allowing locals to elect their own leaders and set their own development guidelines instead of being governed by county rules.

In the spring of 2007, voters narrowly approved the measure, despite growing opposition from some residents and businesses.

The opponents said they worried the cost of an additional layer of bureaucracy had been underestimated.

Even if the latest election results don't simmer the debate, Campton Hills can't have another referendum on dissolution for 22 months, according to Illinois statute.