Lemont Declares 'Legal Victory' in Palos' Annexation Challenge

Lemont won a legal victory last week when the Cook County Circuit Court ruled that the Palos Park held no standing in challenging annexations made by the village over the last 20 years.

In his ruling, Judge Moshe Jacobius stated, “The Court finds no support in the law for Palos Park’s contention that it has standing to challenge Lemont’s annexation of any of the parcels at issue,” before officially denying the Village of Palos Park’s challenge of the annexation of 15 parcels of property in Lemont. The lawsuit was filed on Feb. 10, 2016.

Village officials are now focused on the lawsuit filed by the Cook County State’s Attorney, which alleges 17 parcels were not allowed to be annexed as the properties were not contiguous to the Village of Lemont.

"As I said in a letter to residents last week, the annexations were purportedly valid at the time they were passed over a span of 20 years; therefore, the village and the property owners acted in good faith when attempting to create a better class of service for these otherwise subserviced properties," George Schafer, Lemont's village administrator, said in an online update. "At the time of each annexation, all 17 parcels voluntarily requested to become a part of the Village of Lemont and the Village could effectively serve the parcels."

The above content was submitted by the Village of Lemont.