Naperville residents want November referendum for parks

A group of residents wants to put a referendum question on the November ballot to help Naperville Park District buy land throughout the city for recreational space.

Dubbing themselves the Save Open Space group, members gathered this afternoon on the fishing pier at one of two ponds in the Hobson West neighborhood to announce their proposal. They do not yet know how many sites the referendum proposal would include or at what cost.

Their most immediate concern is the land where they were standing. The park district owns the nine acres that make up the two ponds but nearby residents have been pushing the district for several years to purchase the six acres in between to create a 15-acre park.

However, the park district and developer Crestview Builders have been unable to reach an agreement on price and the two only have until tomorrow to reach a deal. The park district is offering $2.5 million while Crestview is asking for $4.1 million.

Park commissioners are divided on whether they should buy the property.

Save Open Space members said if the park district goes through with the purchase they would repay it with funds from their proposed referendum. If it is not successful, they pledged to seek donations.

The park board will meet at 8 p.m. Wednesday at its administration building, 320 W. Jackson Ave., to discuss the issue.

For more details, see Wednesday's Daily Herald.