Campton Hills quiet on why it decided against filling doughnut hole

Campton Hills officials have backed away from the proposed annexation of a "doughnut hole" of unincorporated land inside village borders.

The 32.5-acre farm in Plato Township initially was recommended for annexation because it is completely surrounded by incorporated land. But the plan was abruptly scrapped earlier this month without much of an explanation.

"It was for strategic reasons related to other litigation," village attorney Bill Braithwaite said, declining to elaborate.

Trustee Jim Kopec said officials omitted the farm from the village's original incorporation map in 2007 because its owners, Richard and Bobette Sajtar of Sleepy Hollow, were adamantly opposed to the effort. He said the decision to revisit the situation came up as officials looked to address loose ends and also to reinforce an unspecified legal case.

"Everyone would like to take the opportunities, when they're there, to align our borders. This one was out there like a doughnut hole," he said.

"But the attorneys got feedback from some trustees that there could be some potential problems, and we decided it wasn't in the best interest of the village."

The Sajtars did not return a call seeking comment.

The proposal itself drew criticism from Trustees Al Lenkaitis Jr. and John Strauss, who said they opposed annexations that are not supported by the property owners.

"I am against forced annexation in any format," Lenkaitis said Friday.

"There's a lot of things villages and governments can do, but we don't have to do all of them. I've always been of the opinion that property owners and others involved, we can work with them."

Village President Patsy Smith declined to discuss the annexation proposal in any detail. She noted the village published a legal notice that the property was being considered for annexation and sent a letter to the owners in advance of an April 13 board meeting.

Smith said the issue would have been dropped sooner but the legal notice required the board to address it as published. The board voted it down 6-0.

"We have a right to do it and we chose not to," Smith said. "It wasn't forced upon them."