No budging in Fox River Grove lawsuit
The two sides involved in a lawsuit about a proposed new public works garage in Fox River Grove are due to meet in front of a Lake County judge next month, but neither is likely to budge before trial.
About 20 residents are suing the village seeking to permanently block the construction of the new garage off County Line Road, south of Route 22. The current garage needs to be razed to expand the village’s wastewater treatment facility to meet upcoming Illinois Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
Village officials say there is no other suitable spot in town to build a new garage; they OK’d the project last August.
It is unlikely that the matter will be resolved at the June 23 pretrial date, said attorney Daniel Dowd, of Des Plaines, who represents the residents who live near the proposed site. “I can’t conceive of any solution other than permanently stopping the construction that would be satisfactory to us, but you never know,” Dowd said.
Village Attorney John Donahue said he would “never say never” about a possible resolution before trial, but added no proposal has come forth from the other side.
Meanwhile, the village is paying about $130,000 in interest per year on about $3 million in loans it took out last year to finance the project, Village President Robert Nunamaker said. “That (bond) money is just sitting in the bank,” he said, adding he couldn’t comment on the pending lawsuit.
The new garage has no place in a residential neighborhood, and it would disrupt residents’ quality of life and drive down home values by at least 20 percent, Dowd said.
“If a road paver or a contractor proposed identical things, they never would have gotten this approval from the village,” Dowd said.
But Donahue said residential zoning allows public uses such as and police and fire stations, and public works facilities.
Donahue also said he doesn’t believe property values will be affected. “When the residents see what is ultimately what is built there, there will realize that their fears were worse that the reality of it,” he said.
Residents Thomas and Patricia MacCarthy, whose 7-acre estate is adjacent to the garage’s proposed location, disagree. They say the public works trucks will damage the streets, and that their property will be especially affected because of runoff from salt storage planned at the new garage.
“They are simply doing it because they have the bully pulpit to pull this off,” Thomas MacCarthy said. “Why don’t they build this thing right next to their own neighborhood? Why don’t’ they put it in their own backyard?”
A trial date is set in Lake County court for Sept. 26.