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The conflict between the Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary
Trust and the sanctuary’s neighbors reached an anti-climactic end on
Tuesday as the Sangamon County Board voted to table the trust’s
request for a conditional-use permit to establish a public park.
The neighbors initially complained that they
had not been properly informed of the trust’s zoning request in May
and said that opening up the 120-acre wildlife sanctuary, located at 9560
Withers Rd. near Loami, could lead to vandalism, fires, and loss of the
area’s wildlife [see Amanda Robert, “Prairie wildfire,”
Sept. 6]. But a prevote compromise was reached last week during
an informal meeting between JPMorgan Bank, the administrator of the Nipper
trust, and the neighbors on the property of the wildlife sanctuary. The
neighbors insisted that the trust impose stricter limits on the
public’s use of the property, and, after nearly two hours of hashing
out the terms, the trust agreed to only open the wildlife sanctuary to
scheduled groups or to members of a soon-to-be formed Nipper Wildlife
Sanctuary Association. Tim Moore, chairman of the county board’s
committee on public health, safety, and zoning, listened in on the
discussion and suggested that postponing the county vote would allow time
for the two parties to work out a written agreement to submit to the board.
“It doesn’t happen that often, but once
every couple of months we have a clash of interest,” Moore said after
the meeting. “We’d rather see the property owner and the
neighbors all in one accord, and we try to facilitate that.”
Jim Park is one of the neighbors who was
opposed to the opening of the wildlife sanctuary and to the construction of
a three-story visitor’s center on the property, but now, he says, he
is optimistic that a suitable agreement can be reached, especially because
the trust agreed to reduce the height of the building and has consented to
more restricted access. “I wish this had all happened quite some time
ago,” Park says, “but, as long as we’re talking now,
hopefully we’ll get to some resolutions.”
Steve Scott, attorney for the Nipper trust, says the
trustees worked to identify and address the neighbors’ concerns with
the visitor area and agreed that postponing the County Board vote was the
best way to continue that process. In the coming weeks, he adds, the trust
will draft an agreement to submit to neighbors for their approval.
“They want to be a good neighbor of the
surrounding neighbors,” Scott says. “This is a long-range
project, and they want to work together with them.”
Tuesday was the second time the Nipper Wildlife
Sanctuary Trust’s request had come up for a vote before the County
Board — the measure was defeated by 16 votes at its June meeting. It
will most likely be considered again at the board’s Oct. 9 meeting.
Contact Amanda Robert at arobert@illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2007.
