Why did the Village sell the wetlands/drainage area to a private owner? How can the detention area be owned by a private person?
The Village never owned and did not sell the property to a private owner. It was always intended that a private party (as opposed to the Village) own this property. There is nothing prohibiting private ownership of a detention pond and wetlands. What is unusual in this case is that a detention area that serves a subdivision was acquired by a private party. The detention areas should have been owned by a private Home Owners Association for the subdivision. This did not occur, because the original developer of the property never set up the Home Owners Association. Then, after the developer went bankrupt, when no one paid the taxes of the detention area it was subsequently sold to a private party. The good news is that there are permanent easements over the property to allow (and require) the subdivision’s storm water to flow and be detained there. So the detention basin (even though owned by a private party) does still service and benefit the subdivision.
