The city is a step closer to developing a $1.1 million park after reaching an agreement with a property owner who claimed his land was being taken illegally.
Under terms of the settlement, Joliet will pay out-of-state owner Allan Suggett $39,500 for a house he owns on North Broadway Avenue. The price is more than twice the appraised value of $18,225 and nearly $10,000 more than the $30,000 that was offered in 1993.
In the final chapter to the involved proceedings, Will County Judge Thomas Ewert Wednesday dismissed the condemnation suit filed by the city against the property.
In March, Ewert rejected Suggett’s claim that the city abused its powers by condemning his property.
At stake is the million-dollar Broadway Greenway project in which Crossfield Chemical Co. gave the city $1.1 million to acquire some 50 pieces of property for a tree-lined park. In return the city will allow the company a portion of that land on which to build its corporate headquarters.
Suggett’s lawyers argued that Joliet was wrong to condemn the property because it could not turn over public land for a private use.
Some nine remaining pieces of property must be acquired by the city before the park can be built, and Mary Kucharz, assistant city attorney, said the settlement opens the door for similar agreements.
But until now negotiations have been slow, and it will be sometime in 1995 at the earliest before all the land is taken by the city.
“We’re negotiating with two people right now and hope to reach a settlement before the end of the year,” said Kucharz, who added she was hopeful that the latest agreement would make it easier to deal with the remaining property owners.
The land in question is on a five-block stretch between Moran and Frank Streets on the east side of Broadway Avenue and consisted of 54 parcels, most of those single-family homes, owned by 38 people.
In May 1991 Crossfield said it would give $1.1 million to the city for the acquisition of a linear park. Crossfield is east of Broadway Avenue. In return for its donation, it was allowed to buy eight pieces of property for $100,000 for a “storefront presence” on Broadway Avenue.
When the plan was first announced in May 1991, it stirred resentment among residents. Some owners went so far as to post signs on their property pleading their case.