The Kane County Forest Preserve Commission voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to take steps to acquire or condemn about 16 acres adjacent to the district-owned Braeburn Marsh near Batavia where a Chicago company wants to build a commercial center.
Separately, Kane County Board Chairman Mike McCoy (R-Aurora) said he plans to meet Wednesday with George Hanus, president of Chicago-based Aetna Development Corp., to discuss the possibility of acquiring an additional four acres, on which Aetna holds an option. The 4-acre parcel at Fabyan Parkway and Randall Road is close to the 16 acres the company already owns.
The steps signal the resolve of Kane officials to prevent development near the marsh, which was built to retain storm-water runoff and became a bird sanctuary.
The Forest Preserve Commission voted 18-4 to authorize commission President Jack Cook (R-Elgin) to negotiate with Hanus for the purchase of the 16 acres, or, if necessary, to use condemnation to acquire the land.
Three years ago, Hanus proposed building a 120,000-square-foot commercial center, including a Best Buy store, on part of the L-shaped parcel. The plan spurred a large movement to prevent development next to the marsh, and voters in November urged that the area stay open space. Aetna had proposed building a smaller strip mall, but the Batavia Plan Commission rejected that.
In November, the county rejected Aetna’s request to rezone the corner four acres for commercial development.
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Hanus and McCoy are expected to focus on this parcel, known as the Hawkes property. The parcels in question are adjacent to the Braeburn Marsh Forest Preserve and are zoned for business use in Batavia.
Hanus reiterated Tuesday that he is not in the business of land speculation.
“I don’t want to sell. I want to build,” said Hanus, who has been developing property for 30 years. “If they want to condemn, they are entitled to condemn. The laws of the state provide for the taking of a person’s property.”
Combining commitments from the county, Forest Preserve District and Batavia, a total of about $2.5 million is available to buy the land. But Hanus and others have argued that when zoned for commercial use, it could be valued at $12 million or more.
Hanus said he finds it “extraordinarily strange” that the government entities that have thwarted his efforts to develop his land have teamed up to raise money to buy it and now “are trying to pressure us into selling.”
Forest Preserve Commissioners Lee Barrett (R-East Dundee), Paul Greviskes (D-Aurora), Rudy Neuberger (D-Aurora) and Don Wolfe (R-Elgin) voted against having the Forest Preserve District pursue the 16 acres.
As he has in the past, Greviskes argued that the ecological value of the Aetna property was poor and “hugely expensive.”
“It’s not worth that kind of expenditure of money,” said Greviskes, arguing that hundreds of acres could be bought on the west side of the county for what it might cost to buy the Aetna land.
In December, the Batavia City Council forfeited the city’s right to fight any condemnation by the county of the undeveloped land adjacent to the marsh. It also pledged $500,000 toward the county’s possible purchase of the property.