"Chicago seeks airport-affected homes"

Friday, September 24, 2004

Chicago seeks airport-affected homes
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


Chicago is reaching out to Bensenville and Elk Grove Village residents whose
property would be affected by a proposed expansion of O'Hare International
Airport, offering to buy their land if they meet certain hardship criteria.

The city has established a hot line (773-686-4600) and intends to mail
letters to the approximately 550 affected homeowners to see whether they
meet the guidelines, which include medical or financial situations and job
relocation.

The federal government allows airport sponsors to acquire property that an
owner may have difficulty selling because of a proposed expansion. In the
case of Chicago, whose multibillion-dollar expansion proposal would require
the homes to be demolished, Elk Grove or Bensenville must approve the city's
acquisition before it can occur.

"It's the humane thing to do," said Roderick Drew, a spokesman for the
O'Hare Modernization Program.

But a lawyer representing the two villages, which oppose the expansion plan,
said the city's initiative is nothing more than "rampant block-busting."

"It's again an attempt to intimidate the local community," said Joe
Karaganis, an attorney for the two municipalities. "The whole problem here
is the city comes in and either bulldozes the home or leaves it vacant or
(the city) now is someone who we can't ensure will maintain and take care of
the home, and the end result is essentially a piecemeal creation of a slum."

Karaganis said Bensenville, where the majority of the homes are, already
acquired 17 homes for hardship circumstances before suspending the program
because of its expense. He did not know how many more people would meet the
criteria and said the villages would block sales unless a real hardship
exists.

Chicago has had permission to conduct its program for more than a year but
waited until it obtained FAA guidance on hardship criteria, which it
received this week.

The airport expansion proposal is under FAA review. The agency expects to
issue a decision in September 2005.


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