Title/Name/Summary
Strategic Annexations - 2024 Update
History
In 2007, the Village began the process of completing a comprehensive annexation study. This was done in order to identify pockets of land wholly surrounded by the Village of Orland Park and less than 60-acres in area left unincorporated as a result of “leap frog development.” These pockets of contiguous, unincorporated areas create gaps in service delivery such as road maintenance, emergency response, and other services handled by overlapping agencies. In 2022, the Village restarted this project by presenting a new comprehensive analysis to the Village Board.
The purpose of the strategic annexation plan for unincorporated areas is to promote effective growth management practices by filling in the gaps of municipal infrastructure and services rather than extending them further out. Annexation can ensure services are provided in an efficient manner and paid for equitably by those who benefit from them.
All properties eligible for unilateral annexation were evaluated. Eligibility is determined by 65 ILCS 7-1-13 which permits unilateral annexation when a contiguous unincorporated area (one or more properties) is 60 acres or less and is surrounded by one or more Villages and/or other boundaries as set forth therein. When conducting a unilateral annexation, a Village must annex the entire, contiguous unincorporated area.
At the time there were 47 areas that were identified. Since that time 3 of these parcels were acquired by the Village and annexation is pending. This area includes over 200 parcels with some areas only containing one parcel and the largest area including thirty (30) parcels. The size of the areas range from ½ acre to 42.5 acres. The vast majority of the identified properties are residential.
In 2022, the Village Board gave direction to send notice to all of the remaining 44 properties to contact the property owners and ask if they would like to pursue voluntary annexation. The attached letter was sent to the tax payer of record for each of the properties identified. After the initial notification, another letter was sent to the property owners to attempt to reach as many owners as possible. The results are as follows:
44 Properties were notified
All were sent 2 letters
36 did not respond
8 Property owners have met with to discuss voluntary vs. unilateral annexation
1 annexation is pending
4 others prefer not to annex but are considering voluntary annexation
A summary status of each of the 8 properties we met with are provided below.
16549 108th Avenue
Update: Staff has reached out and is awaiting response to determine if the property owners are still against voluntary annexation.
Property owners, do not want to be annexed. During the meeting they became amenable to the idea but the preference would be to remain unincorporated.
• Main Issues:
* Concerned about the new tax burden.
* Referenced previous negative dealings with the Village
* Feel they were taken advantage of by a developer in the past.
14420 S 80th Avenue
Update: The family has retained an attorney and they are not interested in annexation.
Property owned by family. There is one elderly man that lives on the property. They do not want to be annexed.
• Main Issues:
* According to the attorney there would be not advantage to the property owners
* The property is surrounded by R-2 and R-3 homes
* May be more advantageous to pursue an agreement when property owners are ready to sell
* Highly unlikely that it would develop in Cook County
13705 82ND Avenue
Update: Owner may be interested in annexation. A meeting is pending to discuss the next steps.
Owner would prefer to stay unincorporated.
• Main Issues
* Did not seem extremely opposed but is weary of the potential tax burden
* Would like to clear up confusion about police jurisdiction
* Has bonfires on property and is worried that Orland municipal regulations may be too strict
* He is already connected to water and sewer
16501 118th Avenue
Update: Staff has sent the annexation petition and will meet with the property owner to discuss next steps and required submittals.
Property owner, open to annexation by agreement
• Main Issues
* Would also like to pursue zoning change to R-3.
* Adjacent to Gallagher and Henry Land
* Village would require easement for Spring Creek for potential future maintenance (Tinley Creek)
15350 108th Avenue
Update: Meeting pending to discuss next steps and submittal documents.
Property owner inherited the property from family.
• Main Issues
* Concerned about potential code requirements
* Is currently considering an annexation agreement
* Would like to connect to water/sewer
11250 151st Street
Attorney is preparing documents for submittal. He stated that his petition has lagged because they have run into some permitting issues with Cook County for the owner’s pool. The pool permit will need to be complete prior to annexation to avoid any overlapping jurisdictions.
• Main Issues
* In the process of constructing a new pool, Cook County was requiring that he provide for an alternative septic field location should the existing field fail. Would like to annex in order to get Village water and sewer.
* Village previously attempted to annex the property voluntarily; however, when it came time to execute the annexation, the Village required that he connect to both water and sewer. Owner refused and the Village terminated the annexation petition
* On-Site inspection has been completed.
14555-14567 S 82nd Avenue
Update: Owner is opposed to annexation. Understands the purpose of the project but does not see a benefit to him and is concerned about the tax burden.
• Main Issues
* Owner does not see the value in annexation
* Does not water or sewer
* Concerned about tax increase
* Warned staff that the larger the town gets the larger the tax burden will be for the residents
* At end of the meeting, was not happy but stated it sounded like this was going to happen anyways.
16901 108th Avenue
Update: Owner asked for a waiver of water/sewer tap fees. Staff responded that this would not be considered. Owner is no longer interested in voluntary annexation.
Owner was previously working with an attorney and would like to consider an annexation agreement
• Main Issues
* Would like to rezone property to R-3
* May not pursue annexation voluntarily
The main issues for those not interested in annexation are the increased tax burden, fear of new strict Village regulations, and some do not see an advantage to annexation. It is important to note that regardless of the benefit to the current resident the intent of annexation of these specific properties is to ensure the owners are paying their fair share of the tax that covers the cost of the services that each benefit from.
This item is again before the Board to discuss next steps. Since voluntary annexation has not been overwhelmingly successful, the Village may pursue involuntary annexation of the parcels as outlined in the 2022 Strategic Annexations report that are not willing to voluntarily annex.
Recommended Action/Motion
This item is for discussion only.