South Barrington residents to drop lawsuit against park district over land deal

Eight South Barrington residents who earlier this year sued the local park district to stop the proposed construction of a church and school on formerly public land are dropping their fight to undo the sale of the property, officials said Thursday.

During a court appearance at the Daley Center in Chicago, an attorney for the plaintiffs filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss their claims against the South Barrington Park District. The plaintiffs reportedly gave no reason for their change of heart.

Park district Executive Director Jay Morgan noted his organization already was seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, and that a decision from Walker is pending.

“We will be evaluating the next steps in the case in the near future,” Morgan said.

Village officials had intended to join the lawsuit to protect South Barrington’s interests and to stay informed as the matter progressed. That no longer will be necessary if Judge Allen P. Walker dismisses the case.

“The issue of ownership is no longer in dispute,” said Jim Vasselli, the village’s attorney. “We wanted clarity and we got it.”

The legal fight focused on the purchase of a 34-acre site at Bartlett Road and Route 59, often called Area N.

Schaumburg-based Fourth Avenue Gospel, a group owned and operated by a suburban congregation of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, bought the land from the park district at an auction earlier this year for $2.3 million.

Fourth Avenue created a limited liability company called Area N Development to bid on the land and close the purchase. A representative has said the group used that legal entity to avoid publicly identifying itself as the buyer until after the deal was finalized.

That was the second time Fourth Avenue Gospel won an auction for the land. It first did so in May 2023.

Fourth Avenue was the only bidder at the first auction. But the park district board canceled the sale before a scheduled real estate closing because of community opposition to how the auction was run as well as concerns about the project and some of the church’s practices.

Residents Michael Lombardi, Harathi Srivastava, Jaimin Patel, Jignesh Samani, Leonard Hosette, Madhusree Ghosh, Jonathan Cooke and Neil Shah sued the park district in March over the deal. They said the second auction was legally improper because the park district board approved a bid at the first auction in 2023.

The plaintiffs also alleged Area N Development shouldn’t have been allowed to buy the property via the second auction because park district officials didn’t know the buyer’s real identity.

The parties will be back in Parker’s courtroom Sept. 5 for arguments on the motion to dismiss, Vasselli said. Park district officials want Parker to dismiss the case with prejudice so it can’t be refiled, Vasselli said.

South Barrington Mayor Paula McCombie on Thursday said she was disappointed that the village had to spend taxpayer dollars on the dropped lawsuit. She was also miffed that the plaintiffs backed down in court without first notifying the village.

While not involved in the lawsuit, Fourth Avenue welcomed the residents’ decision to drop the case Thursday. Members look forward to the project moving forward “without further delay,” the group said in a prepared statement.

To build a church and school, Fourth Avenue needs the village board to amend a development plan for the land. The village’s plan commission is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Friday at village hall, 30 S. Barrington Road, to hold public hearings on Fourth Avenue’s proposal and other matters.