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Aurora Beacon-News
August 21, 2002
Seeking plaintiffs: Federal complaint to be filed within two weeks
By Dave Parro
STAFF WRITER
BIG ROCK ó A lawyer who plans to file a federal lawsuit challenging the state's corridor protection process told
landowners in the path of the Prairie Parkway at a meeting Tuesday night that opponents of the 36-mile highway
won't lose in court.
About 30 people showed up for the Citizens Against the Sprawlway gathering at the First Baptist Church in Big
Rock, where St. Charles attorney Tim Dwyer briefly spoke on how the lawsuit will proceed.
Dwyer, who has volunteered his services, said a rough draft on the complaint has already been drawn up, and the
lawsuit should be filed in the next two weeks.
The purpose of the meeting was to seek volunteers to act as plaintiffs in a federal case against the Illinois
Department of Transportation, which July 31 recorded a 400-foot-wide corridor-protection strip on 193 parcels of
land in Kane, Kendall and Grundy counties.
The map was a slightly modified version of the state's "central" corridor proposal that runs between
Big Rock and Sugar Grove in Kane County, and Yorkville and Plano in Kendall County. The original corridor was unveiled
in December.
IDOT wants to protect land against development so the state will have a future corridor for a possible highway
connecting interstates 88 and 80, but opponents say the process unconstitutionally ties up land without showing
a need for the road and without a guarantee of future purchase.
"The state cannot come in, record a corridor and freeze your property," Dwyer said. "It's really
that simple."
The state has used corridor protection for other projects since 1967, but Dwyer said the process never has been
challenged in Illinois. Two similar cases in Florida had mixed results, he said.
Dwyer said he chose to file the lawsuit in federal court in downtown Chicago because of "litigation strategy
I'd rather not go into." Including an appeal, which is almost certain no matter what the outcome, Dwyer said
the case would likely take two to three years unless it went on to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Jan Strasma, spokesman for the opposition group Citizens Against the Sprawlway, said five landowners already
have indicated their willingness to sign on as plaintiffs. Dwyer handed out authorization forms Tuesday, asking
for more volunteers.
"It does not matter if we have one plaintiff or 150 plaintiffs, the suit is going to be filed," Dwyer
said, but a larger number would send a stronger message to the state and local politicians.
Ronna Gum Jones and her mother came to the meeting seeking more information on what corridor protection means
for the future of her mother's farm at Wheeler and Dauberman roads in Big Rock. With not only their property but
also their home and barns lying in the corridor, the family now doesn't know whether they can go forward with planned
improvements on the land.
"It's not just a house, it's a home," the daughter said. "We're very rooted here."
Strasma sent a letter to more than 100 affected landowners earlier this month, outlining the state's "restrictions
on any improvements" on property as a result of corridor protection being attached to deeds. The state requires
that it be notified of any major improvements on the land, and IDOT reserves the right to reject those plans and
buy the property through eminent domain.
IDOT officials have said corridor protection is a valid way of securing right-of-way for a future regional highway.
IDOT would have 21 days to respond to the lawsuit once filed.