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Village acquires river land

PLAINFIELD

PLAINFIELD -- After spending about five years in court, the Plainfield Park District's eminent domain claim on some riverfront property downtown has been finalized.

The property, located west of the DuPage River and east of Plainfield Village Hall, was owned by the Cedar Rustic fence company.

After an initial offer to buy the property for $150,000 was rejected in 2002, park officials began condemnation proceedings in June 2003 to force the sale. Governmental entities may use condemnation to acquire private property for public purposes.

An agreement was reached in court in November. Last week park district officials approved an intergovernmental agreement with the village of Plainfield to ultimately sell the land to the village. Village board members have also approved the agreement.

The owner has six months to clear the property of pallets and bundles of lumber, said Greg Bott, the park district's executive director.

"The good news is now that the public will be the owners of the property and it will become a park and part of the DuPage River bike trail," Bott said.

The 1996 flood washed sections of fencing downstream, which prompted village officials to urge the company to relocate over concerns about zoning issues and future flooding. Cedar Rustic refused.

The village took the company to court in 1998, but Cedar Rustic eventually prevailed. The court ruled the company could store fencing outside, even though that violated local ordinances.

A short time later, the company put the site up for sale, asking for more than $1 million. At the time, the property was appraised at $145,000.

The park district paid $810,000 for the site, which is what the village will pay to buy the land from the park district.

The property will eventually become part of the village's Riverwalk project.

"It allows (the village to build) the long-anticipated pedestrian walkway across the DuPage River that we've been discussing for quite some time," Village Administrator Chris Minick said.

Park and village officials have agreed the park district will build its DuPage River bike trail through the site.

Eventually the trail will run along the west bank of the river from Eaton Preserve on 135th Street to Lockport Street, passing under Illinois 59 and the EJ&E railroad tracks, stretching from 135th Street to Theodore Street.

Contact Janet Lundquist at (815) 729-6014 or jlundquist@scn1.com