"Peotone, Ill., Airport Foes Accuse State of Intimidation"

Thursday, October 4, 2002

Peotone, Ill., Airport Foes Accuse State of Intimidation
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


Nine owners of property in the path of the proposed third regional
airport near Peotone have been notified by the state that they have 60
days to reach an agreement to sell their land before the state condemns
their property.

The letters, sent to owners within the proposed airport's inaugural
4,200-acre site, are dated Sept. 20 and signed by Hugh Van Voorst,
director of the Illinois Department of Transportation's Division of
Aeronautics. They are prompting accusations of intimidation and
political maneuvering from the airport's opponents. 

"The Federal Aviation Administration has yet to complete its study to
determine whether or not the airport should be built, a process that
will take anywhere from 18 months to two years to complete, " George
Ochsenfeld, president of Shut This Airport Nightmare Down, said
Thursday. "Until the study is completed, these letters are
inappropriate. 

"Moreover, how can they justify taking away people's property when no
federal funds for construction of an airport have been approved," said
Ochsenfeld, whose organization represents residents in eastern Will and
southern Cook Counties who oppose the airport. "What IDOT is doing
amounts to incompetence and coercion," he said. 

IDOT officials, however, deny they are trying to coerce the property
owners into selling. 

The state, IDOT officials point out, announced almost a year ago its
intention to acquire land for one runway, a terminal and 12 to 15 gates
within the airport's inaugural site. They said that at the time, the
property owners were informed that the state would use eminent domain if
a mutually acceptable sale price could not be negotiated. 

The letters now being sent to the property owners are simply "part of
the normal process" of acquiring land for the airport, said IDOT
spokesman Mike Monseur. 

"They [the property owners] have the opportunity either to accept our
offers, which are based on fair appraisals, or reject them within the
60-day time frame," Monseur said. "What the letters, which are required
by law, state is that if it becomes clear that the state and a property
owner cannot reach an agreement on a sale price within the 60-day
period, or shortly thereafter, then IDOT will begin eminent domain
proceedings in the Will County courts."

Monseur also disputed the argument that the state shouldn't be taking
steps to acquire land for the proposed airport until the FAA approves
its construction. 

"We have to take it [building an airport] step by step and one of the
steps is acquiring land for it," Monseur said. "After years of study,
it's been determined that the site near Peotone is the best site that
meets our needs."

In the letter to the nine property owners, Van Voorst said the state
intends "to continue to seek a negotiated agreement with you within this
60-day period and avoid litigation if at all possible. 

"We are also required to inform you that, in the absence of a negotiated
agreement, it is the intention of [IDOT] to initiate eminent domain
proceedings," Van Voorst added. 

At least one of the property owners who received the letter said he will
go to court, if necessary, to fight for his property, adding the state's
offer for his property was "well below" what it is worth. 

"I've lived here for 25 years. I've worked all my life to acquire this
property. I have no intention of selling my land," said Warren Gottwald,
73, who owns two parcels, totaling 40 acres, that the state wants to
acquire for the airport's first construction phase. 

Gottwald and Ochsenfeld said they were also upset by large signs
recently posted by IDOT along Interstate Highway 57 at the
Peotone-Wilmington Road exit informing passing motorists they are
entering the "Future Site" of the "South Suburban Airport."

"IDOT is just adding insult to injury with these signs," Ochsenfeld
said.So far, IDOT has acquired 23 parcels of land within the inaugural
airport site, totaling 527 acres, at a cost of $7.2 million, according
to information on IDOT's Web site. 

Last month, IDOT Secretary Kirk Brown said the state would have offers
on the table for all the land within the inaugural airport site by
year's end.


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