Residents Group Opposes White Pines Sale

BENSENVILLE, IL – Two groups of residents in the unincorporated areas between Elmhurst and Bensenville are split on the possible sale of the White Pines Golf Club.

On Monday, the White Pines Civic Association announced it opposed the sale of nearly half of White Pines, which is north of the Elmhurst city limit.

Over the weekend, the White Pines Community Alliance again emailed its members that it would refrain from taking sides on the issue. But it made arguments in favor of the sale.

The park district said one possibility is that the sold land may be used for light industrial use, which would need the Bensenville Village Board's approval.

In an interview Monday, Garry Gardner, vice president of the civic association, said his group was against the Bensenville Park District's consideration of selling up to 125 acres of the golf club.

"This will have a huge negative impact on the community," Gardner said. "There is plenty of vacant industrial land in the village already."

He noted the effects on traffic if the land were converted to light industrial, particularly if it became a distribution hub.

Gardner described Bensenville as a town on "life support." But he said the sale of half the golf club would not save the town.

"At best, this is an extremely risky experiment," Gardner said. "The one constant that will remain is the need for open space. 'Build it and they will come' does not apply to Bensenville. It's more accurate to say 'build it and they will leave.' The only reason some people live here is for that golf course and the rate residents get."

In an email Saturday, the White Pines Community Alliance said it understood why golf course neighbors were upset that they may lose their view of the fairways.

"If we were in that situation, we would probably be angry too," the alliance said. "However, we are not in that situation and the sale of a portion of the south end of the course will have minimal, if any effect at all, on our subdivision."

The alliance said many believe the addition of residential and light industrial properties would bring in substantially more property taxes, reducing the burden on current residents.

"While the golf course is beautiful and we will continue to publish substantiated information to those interested, this simply isn’t our fight," the alliance said.

The park district contends the golf club has been losing money for years, except for during the pandemic, when people had few other things to do.

Officials say the park district needs money to improve its offerings, particularly the pool. According to the district, the sale could bring in as much as $100 million, which is the equivalent of 14 years of running the district.

A Change.org petition against the golf club sale has collected nearly 500 signatures.

In an interview Monday, Joe Vallez, the park district's executive director, said the park board may have to move back the planned May public hearings on the possible sale.

"We want to make sure we have all the information for the hearings," Vallez said.

He said some residents were saying things about the possible sale that were untrue.

"We'll clarify all the subjects at the appropriate time," Vallez said.

He said he met with two dozen residents last week about the issue. Gardner was among them.

Ordinarily, a park district could not sell a big chunk of land. But at the park district's urging, the state Legislature last year voted to let the park board approve the sale of up to 125 acres of the golf club.