Buffalo Grove still in talks to annex industrial sites

Buffalo Grove officials are continuing negotiations to annex four industrial properties near the Lincolnshire border, though environmental concerns about the sites still linger.

The talks, which have been ongoing since 2007, involve properties on or near Industrial Drive that now are part of either Lincolnshire or unincorporated Lake County.

The properties include Lenzini Excavating Co., 200 Industrial Drive; Dick's Crane Service, 500 Industrial Drive; a residence owned by Robert and Gloria Brooks at 600 Industrial Drive; and Roadway Express Inc., on Roadway Lane.

Lawrence Freedman, an attorney for the property owners, told the Buffalo Grove Village Board Monday his clients hope to continue the current uses on the properties as long as they or their immediate heirs retain ownership.

"All of them found the prospect of annexing to Buffalo Grove encouraging," he said. "They also recognized that there will come a day when it's inevitable."

But he said the owners are balking at possible changes in land use. The businesses mainly are family owned and have been for decades.

"(They) have no immediate plans to cease those family operations," Freedman said.

Village staff said the properties, if annexed, would have to be brought up to code.

For Lenzini, that would mean placing tires currently stored randomly into a designated tire storage area, as well as providing a secondary containment system for its waste oil furnaces and protection placed around aboveground storage tanks. A 10,000-gallon tanker provides aboveground storage for off-road diesel fuel.

Dick's Crane Service would be required to seal an abandoned private water well. Its outside storage yard also has an excessive amount of scrap metal, unused equipment and waste materials, staff said.

The property also has some environmental issues, which have spurred several Freedom of Information Act requests from the village to the to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Village of Lincolnshire, and Lake County.

When asked about possible environmental impact studies, Freedman said his clients were not likely to initiate those studies on their own.