Kane forest district eyes 100 acres near La Fox
The Kane County Forest Preserve Commission decided Tuesday to buy 100 acres west of Geneva’s Prairie Green Preserve, in an area once slated for a huge housing development.
It voted unanimously — with two members absent and commissioner Drew Frasz abstaining — to start negotiations for the land with owners Reliable Materials Corp., Reliable Asphalt Corp. and Hamano Properties LLC.
The land is closest to Brundige Road, and north of the Union Pacific railroad tracks. It is where part of the Settlements of La Fox development was to be built. That development was supposed to have more than 1,200 homes and some businesses. It has stalled due to the recession and collapse of the new home market.
Some of the land being bought was due to be green space in the development; other sections were slated for housing.
As a private citizen Frasz was part of a group that opposed an even more intense development plan for the land, called Grand Prairie, that was proposed to be annexed to St. Charles. He then worked with other residents of unincorporated La Fox to come up with the Settlements of La Fox design.
Frasz ousted incumbent Jan Carlson in the 2007 county board election. He had accused Carlson of not helping residents fight the Grand Prairie plan.
Frasz, who lives nearby on Brundige Road, said he abstained from voting because he owns land that touches part of the parcel the county wants to buy.
“So I didn’t think it was appropriate” to vote on the matter, he said.