Elk Grove looks at hostile annexation

A Firestone auto business is about to be forcibly annexed into Elk Grove Village.

On Tuesday, village board members plan to annex the half-acre property at 2627 E. Higgins Road at Landmeier Road.

Erik Mendel, son of the property owner, said while they have no plans to fight the annexation, it's frustrating. He questions why the village wants the property, suggesting it is as a favor to a prominent Elk Grove developer.

"There's no good reasoning behind it," Mendel said. "They (village officials) supposedly want to clean up the borders."

Mendel said his father, property owner Erich Mendel, met with Village Attorney George Knickerbocker on Aug. 8. There are no plans to fight the village's annexation plans.

Gullo International Development Corp., an Elk Grove Village-based company trying to lease about 2 acres it owns adjacent to the Firestone property, approached the Firestone owners about three years ago to buy it, but the Mendels declined, Erik Mendel said.

Erich Mendel declined to comment on Friday. Knickerbocker and Gullo representatives didn't return phone calls seeking comment on Friday.

Mendel, who works at the Firestone store his father has owned for 20 years, said he and his dad are happy being in unincorporated Cook County. Being in the village will bring an extra percentage point in sales tax and will mean having to get a business license to operate in the village, he said.

Also, he said the property has a billboard so that will mean dealing with the village about that, and being forced to get sewer services and water through the village. They are currently using well water and a septic system.

Trustees will consider the annexation Tuesday at a board meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at village hall, 901 Wellington Ave.