MWRD Board Rejects Isabella Woods Easement Request

EVANSTON, IL — The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District voted unanimously Thursday to reject a request for an easement to build an access road connecting Isabella Street in Evanston to a landlocked parcel of Wilmette land. Evanston residents and politicians expressed concerned the proposed road could cause significant environmental damage and present water management problems altering Isabella Woods, a relatively untouched piece of wooded wetlands.

The Keefe family bought the east Wilmette property, dubbed Fairway Oaks, in the late 1980's, according to family representative Joe Keefe. For the past decade, he said the family has been attempting to gain permission to build the access road to the property, which is located between the CTA Purple Line tracks and the Canal Shores Golf Course.

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A previous plan was approved by the CTA to build a road from the north but it did not allow for a wide enough road for emergency vehicles to access the property, leading to an 8-year lawsuit between the Village of Wilmette and the Dick Keefe Development Corp. After losing that suit, which challenged the Village's rejection of a narrow, 17-foot-wide access road in 1998, Keefe purchased another parcel of adjacent landlocked property.

Despite assurances from a detailed environmental study commissioned by the developers, many Evanstonians warned that building a road through Isabella Woods would remove valuable stormwater drainage and put extra strain on Evanston's sewers by removing some of the dozens of old-growth trees on the swampy oak forest.

A city-sponsored tree survey found 48 of the 55 trees in the area of the proposed road might die, but Keefe suggested that number was closer to seven. He pointed out the plan involved building a road as close as possible to the existing CTA tracks to minimize the negative environmental impact.

The developers also proposed a "nature park" and a restoration plan for the Isabella Woods, both of which were rejected by the City of Evanston.

Plus the Keefes brought in a high-powered long-time family friend and past lawyer for the property, Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago). He joined representatives of the Keefe family in meetings with then-Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl and 7th Ward Ald. Eleanor Revelle to ask for the City of Evanston's approval for the easement last year, Keefe and Revelle confirmed.

Sen. Cullerton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the meetings.

Ald. Revelle represents the area where the property is located. She held meetings with residents last October to discuss the plan. The developers presented their nature park plan, but it garnered little support and never made it to a vote, she said.

The Keefe family then took the matter to the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways, which can overrule the Evanston City Council and order an easement if there is a public purpose. In this case, the public purpose would be to generate property taxes, Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin told the RoundTable. Joe Keefe estimated a future development would provide at least $200,000 in annual revenue to local taxing bodies, even though those would not include the City of Evanston.

The Department made the request April 28. In response, Ald. Revelle brought forward a resolution on the issue, and the Evanston City Council voted May 15 to oppose the proposal.

The MWRD board, which owns the property and has leased it to the City of Evanston since 1966, would have been able to overturn the city council with its vote Thursday. The Evanston RoundTable reported some 300 people signed a petition against the road. Revelle said board members were likely taken aback by the response.

Revelle attended the meeting and told the board it should reject the access road plan. She was joined by about 15 Evanstonians and one Wilmette resident, all of whom were opposed to the plan and "sacrificing a public ood for a private developer," she said.

The unanimous vote from MWRD commissioners surprised her, as she expected the District to be concerned about facing another lawsuit after having to pay more than $40 million after losing an easement lawsuit with Ritz Carlton. Generally speaking, a concept known as "easement by necessity" requires governments that collect property taxes allow the owners of those properties to access their land, which the Keefe family currently cannot.

Keefe said "no one wants" a lawsuit, which he described as "the last option that the family wants to explore."

Top photo | Isabella Woods | Google Maps