Hoffman Estates on Tuesday snubbed a proposal by neighboring Elgin that would have put an end to a territorial battle over large tracts of undeveloped land near the Sears, Roebuck and Co. headquarters site.
If Hoffman Estates had agreed to Elgin`s proposal, the village would have given up any claim to some 1,250 acres south of Sears and the Northwest Tollway. Some of that acreage is within the village already, said Village Manager Peter Burchard.
He called Elgin`s offer a ”ruse” to obtain land that is, or should be, in Hoffman Estates.
Last month, Elgin proposed providing sanitary sewer service to the Sears site, east of Beverly Road, south of Higgins Road and north of the tollway. That offer was based on the assumption that 460 acres just south of the site would be annexed to Elgin, said Elgin City Manager Larry Rice.
”If (the site) became part of Elgin, we would be happy to also serve Sears,” said Rice.
He said Elgin made the offer in good faith. ”I`m not sure how it can be a ruse,” said Rice. ”It just seemed like good public policy and good engineering to provide that service.”
But in January, Hoffman Estates appealed an earlier court decision that stripped the village of its right to annex the land, known as the Mullady Farm. The land belongs in Hoffman Estates, not Elgin, the village`s attorneys argued. Until the appeal is decided, Hoffman Estates is providing services in the area.
And on Monday, Hoffman Estates annexed 151 acres of land just northeast of the Mullady Farm.
With those moves, Hoffman Estates is chalking up acreage in an area that Burchard called ”the essence of the village`s future financial stability.”
The proximity of Sears makes the newly annexed land, which is south of Shoe Factory Road and borders the west side of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern railroad tracks, highly valuable, said Burchard.
Its value as commercial property is increased by a Metra proposal to run commuter trains along the EJ&E railroad and by the proposed Fox Valley Expressway, which may run through the area, said Burchard.
Elgin had argued that it should serve the Sears site as well as the land south of the tollway because it expected to have the Mullady Farm area.
The city also argued that it could provide the service cheaper than Hoffman Estates. Elgin`s proposal to serve the 1,385 acres north of the tollway, including the Sears site, would cost $2,556 per acre, according to Rice.
More Top Picks Best Warm White Led Bulbs For Reading
But Hoffman Estates officials say the village could construct the sewers for about $1,260 per acre. The village would pay for the construction through increases in property tax revenues from the Sears site.
Having spurned Elgin`s offer, Hoffman Estates will begin construction on the sewer line for the Sears site and the area south of the tollway, which includes some unincorporated parcels, within two weeks, said Burchard.
But Rice said that if Hoffman Estates` appeal on the Mullady Farm annexation decision fails, Elgin will effectively control the area south of Sears. ”Two-thirds of that area will be coming into Elgin at any event,”
Rice said.
Since Mullady Farm is in the center of the area, the unincorporated property naturally should be annexed to Elgin, Rice said.