DuPage residents protest plans for maintenance facility at Blackwell

Residents opposing plans to construct a vehicle maintenance garage in Blackwell Forest Preserve near Warrenville made it very clear this week they won't back down until DuPage County Forest Preserve District officials reconsider the proposal.

That determination appears to be paying off.

Wearing buttons and carrying signs, more than 100 people packed Tuesday night's meeting to urge officials not to build the $7.5 million facility in the preserve near the McKee Marsh off Mack Road.

Citing a variety of reasons - including that the idea runs counter to the district's mission of preserving open space for passive use - the crowd urged officials to seek alternate sites.

Forest preserve President Dewey Pierotti said after the nearly three-hour discussion that commissioners will need to address the concerns before any further action is taken.

"We would be negligent if we didn't go out and see if there are any alternative sites," Pierotti said.

"They (commissioners) have all the facts," he said. "It's time for them to sit down, evaluate what they have and make a determination what they want to do."

Commissioner Roger Kotecki of Warrenville said he plans to seek a formal vote to have the project postponed until further analysis is completed. He called the proposed 29,000-square-foot garage with 16 maintenance bays "an intrusion."

"This would be moving farther into the preserve," Kotecki said. "It's the opposite of what we usually do."

The proposal calls for all the district's vehicle maintenance operations to be moved into the new location. Right now, half the district's vehicle maintenance work is done at an existing Blackwell facility and the rest is done at Churchill Woods Forest Preserve near Glen Ellyn.

District officials have said the Blackwell site was selected, in part, because the land has been used for similar purposes for roughly 30 years and Blackwell is centrally located.

Still, Kotecki said he doesn't even think having one central maintenance location is a good idea. Multiple sites might have to be considered because traffic congestion is expected to get worse - not better.

Dennis Clark, president of the West-Win Homeowners' Association, said he believes the entire idea is outdated.

"To base your thinking on 30-year-old plans instead of planning 30 years into the future ... is ludicrous," said Clark, adding the structure is simply too big.

"When you think of a garage, you think of a couple bays," he said. "You don't think of a three-story building and 300 pieces of motorized equipment on the road."

Several residents suggested the district should buy a former car dealership for its maintenance needs.

Pierotti said he has explored that possibility. However, he said there still would be concerns about traffic. More importantly, towns might object to seeing even a vacant property taken off the tax rolls.

"That has a serious detrimental affect on the school districts," Pierotti said. "And the municipality doesn't get the sales tax."

Kotecki said one alternative could be to rent the space.

"Then we would be paying taxes on it," he said. "It would cost more, but it would be easier for the school districts and everybody else to swallow."