Palos Park Wants Disputed Land Annexed, and Fast

Palos Park officials are expected to move ahead Jan. 15 with the expedited annexation of two key pieces of land at the center of a heated dispute with Lemont.

Palos Park’s attorneys announced the upcoming move during a brief hearing Thursday before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Carol Kipperman, regarding Lemont’s petition on behalf of residents of the Sun Hill subdivision. The petition seeks annexation for those homeowners located south of McCarthy Road, west of Bell Road—annexation which, if completed, would include a large chunk (110 acres) of Glenagles Country Club. That move could then snarl Palos Park’s plans to annex Cog Hill.

By arranging for a quick annexation agreement with the owners of Gleneagles and Mid-Iron, Palos Park hopes to squash Lemont’s petition, which is set to be ruled upon by a judge days later on Jan. 20.

Owners of Cog Hill Country Club, Gleneagles, Mid-Iron and Ludwig farm have previously requested to be annexed into Palos Park, and have begun the paperwork to do so.

Meanwhile Lemont continues to pull cards in its attempt to stop the annexation of roughly 1,400 acres, which Mayor Brian Reaves says would split the village in half. Officials rallied to stop Palos Park’s annexation of 190 acres of Cook County Forest Preserve District land, acreage that gave it the required contiguity to the land it wishes to annex.

Reaves has argued that the properties have been included in the Village’s comprehensive plan, but the owners have reportedly fought off officials’ attempts to bring them into Lemont. Now those landowners want in to Palos Park sooner rather than later, with Gleneagles and Mid-Iron owners passing on a more detailed negotiation process in favor of faster annexation under the village’s most restrictive residential zoning.

Only two of the properties will be voted on during the Jan. 15 meeting, set for 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, Lemont trustees last month approved early plans for a 34-home subdivision at 121st and Bell Road, despite objections by Palos Park. Equestrian Meadows is set to be built on 15.8 acres at 12150 Bell Road, with development to begin in the spring. The acreage upon which Equestrian Meadows will be built was previously annexed by the Village several years ago, Reaves said. Palos Park officials are now challenging Lemont’s old annexations of land along McCarthy Road.

“These individuals were contacted by the Village of Palos Park, and they want to be in the Village of Lemont,” said Mayor Brian Reaves last month, of the previously annexed land and the new subdivision. “They have always wanted to be, and don’t want to be anywhere other than the Village of Lemont.”