News

Wolf Road Prairie Still On Ropes

The Westchester Village Board voted 4 to 2 on March 14 to approve a housing development next to Wolf Road Prairie, despite action by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County two weeks earlier to preclude building the access road that the development needs to go forward. With the two governmental bodies in disagreement about whether the road can be built, the question is likely to be decided in court.

The Patric Greene Development Group wants to put 26 home sites on 10 acres of land that buffers 80-acre Wolf Road Prairie. Twelve miles from downtown Chicago, the prairie is recognized as the finest and largest silt-loam prairie east of the Mississippi. The buffer plot in question is immediately uphill of the prairie, a dedicated Illinois Nature Preserve, and currently has only two houses on 5-acre lots. Environmental experts are concerned that the proposed development would disrupt hydrology in the prairie and would open the preserve to other ecological threats. Among the opponents of the project are the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC), and Save the Prairie Society. These three entities own the prairie and much of the buffer land.

On March 2, the Cook County’s Board of Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance “vacating” the streets and alleys in their holdings at Wolf Road Prairie. President Stroger signed the ordinance just one day before suffering a serious stroke. FPDCC believes the ordinance prevents construction of a platted road from Constitution Drive through the prairie to the home sites. “Throughout President Stroger’s career, he has continued, with the support of the board of commissioners of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, to protect the beauty of Wolf Road Prairie,” said Pamela Munizzi, special assistant to the president. “While we in no way want to stifle the economic growth of Westchester, our mission is to protect our holdings.”

The Village of Westchester, relying on a title report, contends that FPDCC does not own the roadway, which was platted in 1925 but never built.

Greene’s project faces several additional hurdles. The developer has requested that the Army Corps of Engineers issue a “letter of no objection” to the project. The Corps has replied that it must first assess wetland boundaries, which it cannot start until early June 2006. Also, the village and the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission are required by law to consult on whether the project would be likely to result in the destruction or adverse modification of the natural area. But if the road cannot be built, these additional reviews may be moot.

— Barbara Hill

Related Articles

Wolf Road Prairie in Trouble, CW, Spring 2006