Last week Carey Guardado emailed me an excellent question for the blog. It concerns eminent domain and the use of it in the new downtown of Round Lake.
What is eminent domain? Here is a definition.Since the start of this process I have consistently stated that homeowners in all of Round Lake have nothing to fear from the village using eminent domain. My personal belief is that you own property and you can stay there as long as you want, without government interference as to your ownership.
There is an excellent website here on the subject as well.
The village has an overlay district for the downtown development district outlining what a potential future use of the property would or could be. This is not going to happen to the parcel without the owners willingness to let it happen.
Carey commented in the email that it has happened recently in Lake Zurich. The big difference between us and Lake Zurich is the large tracts of vacant land in our downtown that are owned by the village and are the major focus of the development area. We have actively discouraged developers from looking away from parcels that are not vacant and or residential.
If you live in the downtown, you will be affected, because the area around you will slowly change, but no one will enforce eminent domain on you.
We have had numerous public meetings on the Downtown development plan, and I have been asked that question more then once. I have answered it the same throughout.
Just as an observation your Illinois legislators are going to pass a law when they next meet making the type of eminent domain allowed by the recent supreme court ruling, illegal in the next session. So we shall see.
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