Sugar Grove issues clarification on referendum petition

After Sugar Grove village board members voted to annex land for The Grove, a 760-acre mixed-use development planned for the area around the Interstate 88 at the Route 47 interchange, community members have been working to find ways to counter the decision.

With multiple petitions circulating in opposition to the development, specifically one calling for the annexation to go to a referendum proposed by Thoughtful Progress Inc., the village issued a statement Sept. 18 to clarify that a referendum is not applicable to the annexation.

“It appears that misconceptions have arisen regarding the recent annexation of the Crown property,” the statement reads. “Because this information has been posted directly to the Village’s Facebook page by one or more members of the public, the Village believes it is necessary to provide clarification.

“Specifically, members of the community have apparently been advised or are under the perception that by circulating a petition and obtaining a certain number of signatures, the Crown annexation will be placed on a ballot for referendum,” the statement continues. “However, the annexation of the Crown property was a voluntary annexation, which means that 100% of the property’s ownership sought annexation and the Owner and the Village mutually agreed upon the annexation.”

Village Administrator Scott Koeppel said the statement was made in response to comments on the village’s social media posts regarding the petition calling for a referendum.

“I don’t know the details and I have not seen what the plan is from Thoughtful Progress Inc., so I can’t speak to the referendum. All we can say, and what we said in our statement was, there is no legal recourse for a referendum on the type of annexation we did,” Koeppel said.

After the village issued the statement, Thoughtful Progress Inc. shifted their referendum petition from calling for a binding annexation ballot to posing advisory question of public policy which states, “Should the Village of Sugar Grove’s approval of ‘The Grove,’ a development project by Sugar Grove, LLC / Crown Community Development, located near Interstate 88 and Route 47, be immediately reversed using all necessary and lawful measures?”

Kane County Clerk John Cunningham declined to comment on the topic.

Members of Thoughtful Progress Inc. did not respond to messages requesting comment.