Homer Township residents upset at 'open space' being put up for bid
HOMER TOWNSHIP, Illinois (CBS) – They voted to preserve their land through an "open space" program more than 20 years ago.
Now, residents in one southwest suburban area said their elected officials are changing the game. CBS 2's Lauren Victory went to Homer Township to investigate.
At Trantina Farm, just off 151st Street, there's a walking path, a playground, a few historic structures. Overall, there's not much there, and that's how some residents want it to stay.
Chopper 2 gave viewers a sense of what it's like in Homer Township. There's lots of farmland and not a lot of development.
In 1999, residents voted to keep it that way by creating an "open space" program. About 240 acres are preserved from developers, or so they thought.
"We wanted to be different than other places," said Margaret Sabo, who worked to create the "open space" program. "We just didn't want to have build out."
Less than a month ago, more than half of the "open space" land was put up for sale by elected officials.
We asked the township supervisor said he wants to use proceeds to build a place that all residents can use.
"I look at it like this: Do you want to have a farm to look at?" said Supervisor Steve Balich. "You can't go play in the farm. You don't own the crops. Or [would you rather] have a community center that everybody can use?"
"When residents voted to get this land and put it in an open space preserved status, as anybody would with a forest preserve, you never expect that the land is gonna be sold," said Gail Snyder, with the "Stop the Sale" campaign.
Snyder's group is raising money to hire a lawyer to fight any changes to Homer Township's open spaces.
Balich said lawyers told him he's able to sell open space if it's used in a way to develop the area to better benefit residents. As he explained, he wants to build a community center at Trantina Farm.
People can bid on the open space for sale until Oct. 17.