The Peoria Park District Board of Trustees deferred a vote to approve a deal that would expand the right-of-way of the Rock Island Greenway Trail at Detweiller Marina and provide them right-of-first-refusal to purchase green space to the north of the property over concerns that the process was being rushed.
The board voted 5-2 Wednesday night to defer approval of the deal until its next meeting on May 13, despite objections by the district’s legal counsel and attorneys for the Detweiller Playground Trust, which currently owns the land that the marina sits on, that a delay could jeopardize the deal. The proposed deal came about after citizens spoke out about their opposition to a plan for O’Brien Steel to purchase a portion of the property for a business expansion.
The park district’s staff recommended approval of the deal, which would expand the easement of the trail from seven feet to 14 feet, modify and reduce the land purchased by O’Brien Steel in their deal with the Detweiller trust to move it closer to the riverfront and adjust prior restrictions on the easement to allow for the new terms.
In addition, the deal would allow for the park district to have a right of first refusal on green space located to the north of the property. The park district would also be responsible for the pavement of the new path for the trail as part of the deal.
Several board members shared the feelings of numerous members of the public regarding the process that allowed the deal to come forward, saying that it had been rushed and not enough time had been given to consider access to the property and other factors. Trustee Joyce Harant said the process was “disjointed,” saying that she still had questions about how it would all work.
“I really don’t see anything in the documents that really identifies the financial commitment to make changes,” Harant said. “The park district’s commitments are in there, but not the Playground’s.”
Trustee Alex Sierra asked attorneys for Detweiller about potential consequences of deferring the vote, to which Bob Gates, an attorney for the trust with Heyl Royster, said that it would be unknown what would happen afterward. He did note that the trust preferred for the vote to take place, lest the momentum from reaching the deal be lost.
“We’re really proud of the momentum that we’ve had with your staff,” Gates said. “We’re really proud of the momentum that emerged when we heard comments from the public, widening the easement, permit access to the riverfront. We’re retaining 12 acres, all riverfront. We’re keeping that green space and being able to access the big minds that are here at the park district, the people who know how to activate parks, what makes it attractive for people to come to the park, that’s a specialty that you all have in spades.
“This letter of intent says we are interested in that. We need that. We want to access those ways because we want to activate it to get people down to the park.”
‘We should be able to take our time’
Kevin Day, the park district’s legal counsel, warned the trustees that Detweiller and O’Brien could move forward without their approval anyway and informed them of the risks they were taking with deferring the vote well into May.
“This is a transaction between two parties; they have worked with the park district very well to achieve a more favorable easement and have agreed to enter into a letter of intent with the park district to better this area,” Day said. “They can move forward – although there has been no threat to do so – without the park district. Legally, you jeopardize the progress that has been made within these documents.
“You guys make the decisions, but I would not be doing my job if I didn’t advise you legally of the potential legal peril of deferring this action based on the comments tonight.”
Still, enough members of the board felt comfortable with taking that risk, including Reagan Leslie Hill, who said she didn’t understand rushing into a deal without having answers to key questions.
“I think for me to make a decision that is rushed feels wrong,” Hill said. “When I’m put in a position where I have to make a decision, I have to make it now and if I don’t make it now, I lose everything, I question what is behind that. If it’s done in good faith, we should be able to take our time and do that.”
On the other side, deputy board president Steve Montez said that the staff at the park district had followed all of the directions given to them, coming up with a deal that provided a lot of what community members had been asking for.
“The community has gotten pretty much everything that had been requested,” Montez said. “Now, we have our own questions after we’ve already given staff directions and they have come back with what we have asked them to come back with. I’m puzzled; it’s paralysis by analysis.”
Joyce Blumenshine, an activist involved with citizens who questioned the land sale, said before the vote that she was confused as to the best way forward. She questioned why the letter of intent for the agreement said approval would be needed by April 23 or it would expire.
“Why one day for all of these important negotiations?” Blumenshine said. “It’s confusing to me as a member of the public.”
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Why the Peoria Park District board delayed vote on Detweiller land plan
Reporting by Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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