New push on for open space in Naperville

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

Dubbing themselves the Save Open Space group, members gathered Tuesday on the fishing pier at one of two ponds in the Hobson West neighborhood to announce their proposal. They said they don't yet know how many potential sites the referendum could include or at what cost.

"The city right now is short well over 50 (athletic) fields it needs," resident Doug Dallmer said. "And probably one of the bigger problems is what we do have is not geographically dispersed throughout the community."

Group leaders said they plan to talk to park officials and the Conservation Foundation about their proposal. They said they hope to create a plan in late February or early March to identify which parcels to pursue and how much of a tax increase the park district would require to buy them.

Their most immediate concern is the land where they were standing. The park district owns the 9 acres that make up the two ponds, but nearby residents have been pushing the park district for several years to purchase the 6 acres in between to create a 15-acre park.

Resident Marion Baran said the Hobson West land, which is between Plainfield-Naperville Road and West Street, could have many uses.

"This land between these ponds will provide space, for example, for a nature center, a pavilion area, fishing facilities (and) hiking trails," Baran said.

The park district and landowner Crestview Builders, however, have been unable to reach an agreement on price and today is their deadline. The park district is offering $2.5 million while Crestview is asking for $4.1 million.

If the two sides can't agree on a price, Crestview plans to build townhouses there.

Save Open Space members said if the district goes through with the purchase, they would repay it with funds from their proposed tax increase. If the tax increase is not successful, they pledged to seek donations and other funding sources.

The city council already has voted against providing further assistance for the project, but three councilmen -- Richard Furstenau, Doug Krause and Darlene Senger -- lent their support to the referendum proposal at Tuesday's news conference.

"We need to preserve this land and keep it so it will be here for the next 100 years and the people who are here will be able to enjoy that," Furstenau said. "If it costs a few more bucks to acquire that land now, believe me it will be much cheaper now than it's going to be."

But park commissioners are divided on whether to purchase the land or if there are more pressing projects in which to invest. Dallmer acknowledged he will be facing some resistance when the park board meets tonight but said he hopes to change a few minds.

"We hope to encourage them to at least offer Crestview what their appraisal was," Dallmer said. "And hopefully then Crestview will say, 'Well, you're willing to come up a bit, maybe I'll come down a little bit.' "

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

The Save Open Space group can be reached via e-mail at saveopenspace1@gmail.com or through its Web site at www.napervoice.com.