GLEN ELLYN – The Butterfield Park District will now be able to purchase a piece of property at the northwest corner of Routes 53 and 56 after voters approved a referendum to do so Tuesday by a large margin.
The first referendum in the district's history passed with 1,711 votes, or 70 percent, in favor and 732 votes against, according to preliminary election results. There were 2,443 votes cast out of 5,005 registered voters in the district.
District Executive Director Larry Reiner said this was a huge moment for the district.
"We're pretty excited," he said. "The park district can't thank the community enough."
The referendum will total $2,985,000 and will have three major implications. A majority of the money – $1.5 million – will be used to purchase the 2.24-acre property.
Of the remaining money, $500,000 will be used to clean up the site. The final $985,000 will go toward maintaining other parks in the district. Reiner has said the district would likely use matching grants to help with this.
The bond will have a life of 20 years. For a home with a market value of $200,000, the estimated monthly tax increase will be $4.55, according to district documents.
Reiner said the purchasing process will likely take a couple months, and the district could move forward with buying the property by early 2015.
"We want to respond rather quickly because … it's been an eye sore for a long time," he said.
There was much campaigning on behalf of the referendum by resident group the Friends of Butterfield Park District. Organization co-chair Bob Gans said crews were working around the clock until election day to get the word out about the proposal.
"We couldn't be happier for the park district or the residents of the park district," he said.
The property is currently owned by the Conservation Foundation, which purchased it for $1.5 million in April to keep Buck's Inc. from being able to access the land, but the foundation can only hold it for a few years.
Buck's had a plan to construct a 6,800-square-foot convenience store with a 10-pump gas station at the site, but it was met with heavy criticism from the public regarding traffic and the health risks of a station being next to the district.
Board officials had said if the referendum did not pass, the foundation would not be able to hold the property and would have to sell it.
Reiner said the victory was "emotional," because of the time and effort the district put in to fight the proposed gas station.