If I were Elizabeth Khazzam, I’d keep an eye on Phil Luciano. He wrote another love note to her husband Alexis in today’s paper.
Forgive me for not crying big crocodile tears over Khazzam’s ill-fated basketball court on Grandview Drive. If a schmo like me built a basketball court on an easement, I’d buy the contention that it was just an innocent mistake. But this guy is a developer. He knows about easements. He knows about permits. He should have known better.
His offer to tear out the basketball court at his own expense if the village ever needed to use the easement is silly. First of all, there’s no guarantee he’s going to live there forever. Would this agreement be transferrable to the new owner?
Secondly, the crux of the argument that he deserves our sympathy is that he was making this for the public good — it was going to be a little public park he’s creating out of the goodness of his heart for the poor little children of the neighborhood. Yet when the villiage asked him if he’d deed the property to the villiage to officially make it a public park, he blinked.
He can’t have it both ways. If he wants it to be private property and control the use of the land, then he has to abide by the villiage’s laws. As a developer, he should certainly have known that. When it comes to municipalities, the old axiom that it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission never works.
Kudos to the village board for treating Alexis just like any other citizen. Hopefully he won’t take his ball and go home, as Phil suggests. Hey Phil, even nice guys have to fix their mistakes.
Mr. Summers, I must say you are the very FIRST person to understand this situation COMPLETELY, outside of the Peoria Heights zoning board and the Peoria Heights mayor. Congrats to YOU for being cognizant enough to fully comprehend what seemed so simple to me, but so convoluted to the masses. You have proven, indeed, why you are the area’s NUMBER ONE blogger, bar none.
Prego, are you sure you don’t mean that he is the first person to AGREE with the Peoria Heights officials and you?
Tony, it’s more like Mr. Summers is the first to judge the situation on the FACTS and not on EMOTION. That’s all. Believe it or not, there are people outside of cyberspace who actually investigate the FACTS and not the conjured up images of happy kids jumping around on a basketball court….. particularly when those happy kids only live on or near Grandview Drive.
If I was Alexis, I’d kick my Dad’s ass for giving me a girl’s name… ‘-)
Oh, pleased. I understood fully what was going on. Of course this guy is no virgin. He didn’t make a mistake. He did it hoping that the VB and the zoning board woduld blink.
Still, it is his land. And property rights should account for something in this country. I guess not. And what is the village doing to bring backetball courts to this neighborhood? The school board and village managed to do away with the only courts within walking distance on their side of Prospect.
So, Bill, are you against easements in general? Or do you think the board should have only made an exception for Khazzam?
Bill, it was NOT his land. That’s the whole point. It is on the Village right of way. They CANNOT just sign it over to him cause he decided to put a basketball court there. It is PUBLIC land. This was NOT going to be a PUBLIC park. Anyone who got injured on that court would have included the Village in the lawsuit. What is so hard to understand about that?
Kelly Avenue School got torn down to put that piece of crap Heritage Square in. That was under the “watchful” eye of former mayor Carter. If Alexis had been serious about doing things for the PUBLIC good, he would have signed the property over to the Village for a PUBLIC park, but he chose not to. He doesn’t WANT a public park behind the rear of his home, and who can blame him. BUT, please don’t make this out like he was doing a good samaritan act for the ENTIRE Village. He wasn’t. He wanted a playground for his kids and their friends. Period.
Now, one more time, Bill… WHAT don’t you understand about this? Or, are you still seeing visions of sugarplums and kids from all across America playing on that court?
Well, technically, I believe it is his land, unless I’m mistaken. It’s my understanding the basketball court was built in such a way that it encroached on the easement. An easement is “a right of way giving individuals other than the owner permission to use a property for a specific purpose.” In this case, the village has marked off a certain setback from the road/alley for use as an easement. I don’t know about the Heights, but in Peoria, a lot of times this area is set aside for future widening of the road/alley, and/or for hidden things, like public utilities (sewer, phone, etc.). If there are public utilities on the easement, the basketball court, or any other built structure, would be a major impediment to any repairs that would need to be done.
So, if I understand the situation correctly, it actually is Khazzam’s land, but he still must abide by the zoning laws, which includes rules regarding building on any existing easement.
Mr. Summers, technically you’re right… BUT, again, you’re not free to do whatever you want with “your” land EVER without a variance, so it’s not truly HIS land. Regardless, any injury on that court would have included the Village in a potential lawsuit, and anyone who thinks otherwise is floating with the butterflies and the fairies in La-La Land.