A proposed land swap in southwestern Du Page County involving the county forest preserve district and the Elmhurst Chicago Stone Co. has prompted Bloomingdale Mayor Samuel Tenuto to ask for the same kind of treatment for property near his village.
Naperville and Warrenville have asked the district to consider turning over land in the McDowell Forest Preserve, south of the East-West Tollway near the West Branch of the Du Page River, to the stone company for permission to extend Diehl Road through company-owned property.
The municipalities say the extension would provide a much-needed artery linking existing and future commercial development along the county`s high-technology corridor between Ill. Hwy. 59 on the west and Naperville Road on the east.
Such a swap also could work for a quarry north of Bloomingdale. The forest preserve wants to buy the quarry for flood control, but Bloomingdale officials would like to have it developed.
Some district board members have suggested that the proposed swap of about 48 acres in Warrenville include other concessions, such as the donation of company-owned land in other parts of county, from the stone company. In a letter to forest preserve commission President Charles Vaughn, Tenuto said that suggestion was a natural opener for the district to pursue acquisition of the Elmhurst Quarry, near Ill. Hwy. 83 and North Avenue.
If the district acquired the Elmhurst Quarry for recreational and flood-control purposes, the pending acquisition of the Bloomingdale area quarry on Lake Street, near Medinah Country Club, would be unnecessary, Tenuto said.
Tenuto said Vaughn`s consideration of economics in reviewing the proposed Warrenville land swap should apply countywide.
Vaughn told members of the forest preserve commission`s Operations Committee last Thursday that the Diehl Road extension would help Naperville and Warrenville achieve economic development goals and increase the district`s assessed valuation.
”This is the identical argument we have made concerning the forest preserve intentions on the Bauer parcel in Bloomingdale on Lake Street,”
Tenuto said, referring to 74 acres, known as the Bauer property, east of Glen Ellyn Road.
Vaughn said Wednesday that ”economic considerations are one of many things we have to consider, but it is way down on the list.” He cited environmental and functional compatibility as primary considerations in land deals.
The district is attempting to buy the property, the site of the Barnes gravel pit, as part of a $54 million state and federal project to alleviate Des Plaines River flooding from Libertyville to Riverside.
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District officials say the possibility of obtaining federal funding to buy the property is enhanced if part of the property is designated for recreational use.
Acquisition of the Elmhurst Quarry was part of the original flood-control plan for the Lower Des Plaines River, but pressure in the state legislature from the stone company, which resisted sale of the property, prompted state officials to remove it from the plan.