Dupage Policy Journal

At its Jan. 23 meeting, the Village of Burr Ridge board was asked to consider development proposals for a piece of property not within its jurisdiction. 

Village administrator Evan Walter gave background on this issue, which involves the sale of a 70-acre parcel in the Village of Willow Springs. Because of the proximity to the Village of Burr Ridge and several of its residents, and the size and scope of the sale of a parcel zoned for a planned unit development, the Lyons Township High School District, current owner of the parcel, asked Burr Ridge and other nearby municipalities to give their opinion on the sale and the proposed bids on the land.

“I also received calls about this, was asked to weigh in, even though, as noted, this is not within Burr Ridge,” Mayor Gary Grosso said. “It’s Willow Springs' matter and an LTHS matter. However, obviously, it impacts LT people that live in Burr Ridge. It's also, as Evan pointed out, adjacent to the Edgewood Valley Country Club, which is part of Burr Ridge. And so we did as much factual digging as we could. I also contacted the mayor of Willow Springs, Mayor Niedermayer, who I believe I can say told me that she believes she and her board will be against this proposed sale. It is for an industrial development in what should be probably a residential development.”

The council was in agreement that the proposed bid development for this use would not be fit for the area. Members pointed out that the plot for sale was right next to the country club and an elementary school that had 290 students whose families lived in Burr Ridge. There is also a section of land almost inside of the plot for sale that is owned by the Pleasantdale Park district. 

Because of all these neighboring areas, the Burr Ridge board decided that it would be in support of only a quiet retail or residential development in this area and stand with the Willow Springs board against any industrial or major commercial developments.

The zoning for the parcel allowed for small retail, single-family housing, and senior-family residential housing. The school district received one possible bid for the sale, however, it denied the bid because the proposal required a complete rezoning that was very unlikely to occur. The bid requested a commercial development use which was prohibited by the zoning. The school district denied that bid shortly after the Burr Ridge village meeting.

The council also discussed a resolution to extend Verizon Wireless' lease agreement to have a cellular wireless equipment antenna on top of the village's water tower at 16W050 83rd St.

The council uploaded a livestream of its public meeting to the village’s YouTube channel.

The council will meet again at 7 p.m. on Feb. 13 at the Village Hall’s board room on 7660 County Line Road.