District 89 building, theater get new annexation deals
Two unincorporated properties on a prominent corner near Glen Ellyn will continue to receive village water and sanitary sewer service, under annexation agreements approved this week.
The agreements for the Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 administration building and Village Theatre Guild on the northwest corner of Park Boulevard and Butterfield Road is part of a village effort to renew hundreds of expired annexation agreements in unincorporated areas near the village.
About 150 expired agreements have been renewed in the last few years, with dozens more still to be done. The District 89 and Village Theatre Guild pacts have been expired for 20 years, after initial agreements were signed in 1982.
“Frankly, we probably lost track of some of them,” said Village Planner Michele Stegall. “With the economy, we had time to focus on other types of projects and this is one of initiatives we took up.”
Signing an annexation agreement allows property owners to receive village water and sewer service at 1.5 times the incorporated rate.
Property owners also agree to annex their properties once they become contiguous to village limits.
Currently, the village’s limits extend just north of the District 89 and theatre properties at Park and Ahlstrand Road. The village has annexation agreements in place with District 87 for Glenbard South High School, Arden Courts, a doctor’s office and a church.
But it’s that last property that has delayed the village from formally beginning annexation proceedings.
Stegall said once the church property is annexed, its owners would have more development rights under zoning law. A 2007 proposal called for a four-story mixed-use development of retail and residential on that land, until the developer withdrew his application amid density concerns from neighbors. So keeping the property unincorporated for now gives the village more leverage until any future development proposals are offered, Stegall said.
The new annexation agreements are in place for 20 years.