The owners of 32 flood-prone homes along Silver Creek will soon have the option to sell their property as part of a government buyout program.
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The Franklin Park Village Board unanimously approved an agreement with two other agencies to facilitate the program as part of the consent agenda at its July meeting. The village has been seeking a way to acquire the properties since 2012, according to Village Engineer David Talbott.
The eligible homes are located just west of Silver Creek near Lee Street, between Belmont Avenue and Wellington Street. In the last seven years, the area has flooded five times, Talbott said. All the homes are in a flood plain, and the majority are also in a floodway, which is a more severe categorization.
Talbott stressed that the program is strictly voluntary, and said each property will be appraised twice. The appraisals will then be averaged before an offer is made to each homeowner.
“There’s no forced sale involved with this,” Talbott said.
The more than $6 million program is the result of an agreement between the village, the Cook County Land Bank Authority and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The water district is providing $4.68 million in funding, Talbott said. Federal money available through the land bank will cover the remaining cost.
Land bank Executive Director Robert Rose said the village’s only expense will be the price of the second round of appraisals, which he estimated at $25,000 or less.
Talbott said when the village attempted a similar program six years ago, about three-fourths of residents in the area were interested. He anticipated public meetings on the program will take place in September, and said residents will be contacted in advance. The buyout purchases are expected to occur in the next year.
Homes sold as part of the program will be purchased by the land bank and demolished, with the remaining space left open and eventually given to Franklin Park to maintain, Talbott said. While the village can use the vacant property as parkland, it can’t build a permanent structure on it, he said.