No to Belle Meade Blog

Belle Meade has filed a motion to withdraw its Petition for Leave with the Supreme Court.  That motion will be granted. 

That means, Belle Meade has decided to accept the decision by the Appellate Court of Illinois voiding out the forced annexation.

We have won this battle!!!!  Monee will not be annexing the property as petitioned. 

HOWEVER, we must keep in the back of our minds that there could be future actions.

For now, let us celebrate!!!

Per Loseth and Rod Yarling, developers of Belle Meade, are planning on attending the July 12 Township Board meeting at 7:00 p.m.  The purpose of this is to update the township residents with their plans on developing the property as well as notify the residents of their intentions to stop pursuing the forced annexation. 

You may have heard that the developers of Belle Meade met with various County Board representatives as well as Land Use Reps and Township Representatives in an effort to get feedback on a possible “compromised” proposal for the property.  The developers have stated they would like to begin by selling 5 2.5 acre lots on 80th Avenue as a ‘test market” and then come back to the township at a later date with a proposal for the balance of the property.  They (developers) have stated that they are not willing to go through with the Supreme Court appeal as there is only a 50/50 chance of winning IF the case is even heard.  Supposedly they have spoken to Monee and the village knows they are coming to the Township and is behind the developers efforts at this time. 

In addition, Mrs. Loseth/Yarling (developers) have stated they are willing to put a legal restriction on the property stating that as long as they are owners they will not allow the property to be annexed.

This show of good faith and good will is very welcome and I am sure we all want to hear what they have to say.  And, it is a show of good faith and good will as the developers are not required to come to the township with the 2.5 acre phase 1 portion of the development – they can go straight to Will County.  However, they (the developers) have opted to stand in front of us and inform us of their plans.

Attend the July 12 meeting at the Township Hall at 7:00 p.m. to listen to what Mr. Yarling and Mr. Loseth are proposing – your input is wanted and needed.

 Please note that Will County Land Use Department will hold a meeting May 26, at 7 pm, at the Green Garden Town Hall for the purpose of discussing proposed revisions to the Land Resource Management Plan.  There are significant water related portions and a new Airport Development section among other changes.

You may also reference the County’s web site:  http://willcountylanduse.com to read the text changes.

Please attend this meeting as it is important to our area and future development.

The attorneys for Belle Meade/Annexation have filed for appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court.  They are asking for a reversal of the Appellate decision.  However, the Supreme Court does not have any specific timeframe in which to decide whether or not they will even hear Belle Meade’s plea.  Please check back here for updates.

WILL  COUNTY LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN:

DO THE PIECES STILL FIT?

 Over the next few weeks, Will County Land Use Staff will be hosting Listening Sessions throughout the County to allow residents an opportunity to provide input on the proposed update.   Dates and locations are listed below.

 The meetings will summarize the history and successes of the Plan, identify issues no longer up-to-date, and conduct exercises designed to explore resident-generated concerns.

 If you need additional information, call Will County Land Use at 815‑774-7902 or visit www.willcountylanduse.com.

 Listening Sessions to Update the Plan

All Start Times are 7:00 p.m.

Thurs., May 13 – Jackson Township Hall – 100 W. Mississippi Street, Elwood

Wed., May 19 – Washington Township Hall – 30200 Town Center Road, Beecher

Wed., May 26 – Green Garden Township Hall – 25510 S. Center Road, Monee

Thurs., June 3 – Wilmington City Hall – 1165 S. Water Street, Wilmington

Anybody that would like to offer assistance, in any way, please contact Janet Disteldorf at jdisteldorf@yahoo.com.  We are looking for people to do some of the following:

- pass out fliers

- print fliers

- design signs

- engineering

- attorney

- get petitions signed

If you can help in any of these ways OR any way at all, please contact Janet Disteldorf at jdisteldorf@yahoo.com

Thank you!

Just an FYI – the meeting scheduled for this Thursday in Monee regarding the annexation and Belle Meade has been cancelled.

Please keep checking the blog for any updates as we do not expect this to end – we have won the battle but not the war!

Thanks for your help and support.

Please attend the annual township meeting on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.  At this meeting you can bring up thoughts and ideas on how to better our township as well as any changes you may think could be necessary.  In addition, we can discuss how to best protect the township from any further forced annexations in the future.

Again, the meeting is Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:00 at the township hall at the corner of Center and Manhattan-Monee – BE THERE!

Please consider donating towards the cost of the appeal.  Cory Lund, the attorney for the residents of the forced annexation, is owed $6900 in fees.  Please send any amount you can afford.

Checks may be made payable to:  Citizens to Preserve Green Garden, P.O. Box 279, Monee, IL 60449

Thank you for your help.

Please find information I received from John Anderson regarding the decision by the Court of Appeals to reverse the approval of the forced annexation.

“I am happy to report that the appellate court has REVERSED the trial court’s ruling on the Belle Meade forced annexation case.  Please note, though, that this is NOT over yet.  To effectuate a forced annexation under state law, the developers must gain the support of a majority of the land owners and a majority of the registered voters in the annexation footprint.  Thus, the developers could seek to fill existing homes in the annexation footprint with renters who would be willing to sign a new annexation petition.  Or, they could seek to subdivide their existing parcels to increase the number of land owners. 

So, while this is not over, we won a big round!  Special thanks to Cory Lund, who represented the property owners.”

Again, thank you to Cory Lund, the attorney who represented the property owners in their appeal – Mr. Lund was instrumental in this process. 

Also, thank you to everyone who has supported our efforts and showed up to all the meetings.   Without the support of the community this issue would have “been dead in the water” before we “left the dock” so to speak.

**Please check back often for any updates as we must move now to “stack the deck in our favor” and prevent anything like this from happening again.**