The ongoing fight over a planned residential development on a former golf course in Western Springs has been raised a notch as a neighbor filed suit in hopes of halting construction.
The lawsuit filed Friday claims village officials are violating ordinances by allowing Western Springs One LLC, under the development company Dartmoor Homes, to build a 338-unit housing development at Wolf and Plainfield Roads.
The suit against the village, planning commissioners and developers was filed on behalf of Michael J. Haddon, who has lived near the former Timber Trails golf course the last five years, said his attorney, Bob Gildo. Haddon also is a member of Save the Timber, a community group organized to fight the development, which opponents say will overtax public services and result in the destruction of too many trees.
The complaint alleges the village should not have agreed to the developer’s plans, which do not call for sidewalks in the public way, allow town homes outside an allotted area and include parcels that do not meet yard-size requirements. It also alleges the village did not have the authority to make an agreement with developers because the property was not officially annexed by Western Springs until April 5.
The suit also claims developers have not identified all of the investors and that two village officials involved in approving the annexation and the development plan had conflicts of interest. One is Russell Hartigan who held two offices–Lyon Township trustee and Western Springs village trustee–when he voted to rezone Timber Trails for the development, which the suit says puts him in a conflict of interest.
But Hartigan, who is an attorney, said Monday he sees no conflict in serving on both boards, and pointed out that a number of other suburban officials serve on more than one public board.
He also said he does not get paid to serve on the Western Springs board and can abstain from voting if an issue arises that would be a conflict.
“I think what they’re doing is throwing everything on the wall and seeing what sticks,” Hartigan said.
The suit alleges that Planning Commissioner James Reynolds, who at the time was a volunteer firefighter paid on a per-call-basis, was biased in approving the development deal because it included a donation of $1.2 million to the Fire Department to be used to expand fire protection service. Reynolds could not be reached for comment.
Dartmoor Homes Vice President Brian Taylor said the company had not been served with the lawsuit.
More Top Picks Best Budget Laptops
The long battle over the development, waged primarily in public hearings, boiled over April 8 when the developer started cutting down trees, maintaining it had village permission. Some opponents threw rocks at crews and cried foul that the developer was violating an agreement to allow soil samples before beginning construction.
Soil tests were requested by Save the Timber to determine if there was contamination from pesticides used while the property was a golf course. The developer said the tree cutting did not disturb the soil.
“We have no cold hard facts that there is contamination. We don’t know that. But, we want the soil testing done before they do anything else,” Gildo said.
In letters, residents have urged the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois attorney general’s office to get involved. Also, an affidavit by an alleged former employee of the golf course was sent to both agencies, saying that various chemicals and oil were repeatedly dumped on the grounds. The chief of the attorney general’s environmental enforcement division said the agency has received the letter and is following up on it with the state EPA.
———-