This Elmhurst Developer In Fight With Park District

ELMHURST, IL – An Elmhurst developer is trying to force the Elmhurst Park District to relocate a section of the Salt Creek Greenway Trail in the Pick subdivision, the district said in a news release this week.

The district did not identify the developer in the release, but told Patch that it was T.E. McKenna Builders, 533 Division St. The company did not return a message for comment.

This week, the park board voted unanimously to pursue eminent domain against T.E. McKenna. The trail is part of the DuPage County trail system, but is operated and maintained by the local district.

The section of trail in question, a 17-wide strip, was privately owned and recently purchased by T.E. McKenna for $9,500 from a real estate firm that bought the property last year through back payment of taxes, according to the park district. The district says it had no idea about any of these developments.

An official appraisal of the land in question says it does not meet the minimum size requirements for a single-family house. Most of the property is part of a special flood hazard area, which severely limits use of the property, except as open space, the district said.

The district described its negotiations with the developer as futile. T.E. McKenna “flatly” rejected a park district offer of more than three times the amount the developer paid for the land, according to the district.

During a neighborhood meeting, the developer offered to donate the land to the district. But during negotiations, the developer added more demands such as requiring a playground be built on the property before any donation would be made, the district said. Until the playground is built, the district would be required to pay rent for the land, the news release said.

The district’s long-term plan recognizes the need for a playground in the Pick subdivision, but the district does not have the $400,000 that would be needed to build it. Rerouting the path would cost the district more than $250,000, it said.

“The use of eminent domain is not something the Board takes lightly,” the park board’s president, Vince Spaeth, said in a statement. “In this situation, its use is entirely appropriate to preserve the public’s access to the trail that has benefitted the community for more than a decade”.