Judge denies West Dundee residents' appeal in Walmart battle

West Dundee residents opposed to a Walmart Supercenter moving into their neighborhood have few chances left in a fight to stop the retailer from building a 186,000-square-foot store near Spring Hill Mall.

Kane County Judge Michael Colwell Wednesday denied a group of residents' request to reconsider a previous ruling in favor of the West Dundee.

Robert Gildo, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the judge should have considered the village's granting of special use permits "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable" as the introduction of the retailer would impair the residents' enjoyment, negatively affect their property values and subject residents to noise, pollution and other issues relating to a 24-hour retailer.

The attorney also stated a zoning reversion should have applied.

Village attorney John Brechin, however, countered that the plaintiffs failed to "raise anything new or not previously considered."

Colwell agreed with the village attorney.

"I have heard nothing new today, a requirement of a motion to reconsider," Colwell told attorneys for the plaintiffs before stating that he stands by his previous ruling.

The plaintiffs - seven residents of the Tartans Glen neighborhood - originally argued the village had not given residents an opportunity to voice their opinion before granting the world's largest retailer a special use permit to build on a 30-acre lot at Elm Avenue and Huntley Road. In addition, plaintiffs said the village failed to follow its own ordinances. Residents said the site should have returned to residential zoning after Meijer pulled out of developing the site in 2000.

But attorneys for the village argued an automatic reversion law does not exist.

Gildo said the next step is to appeal the decision.

"I will have to talk to my clients, but I think we have a basis for an appeal," he said.