Paving One Man

Often, it’s the memories that make the home—39 years of them for Peter and Frances Dennis of Tinley Park, Illinois.  Peter purchased his single-family, turn-of-the-century castle while earning just a few dollars per hour as a mechanic.  The couple raised their two children there, a perfect location close to their schools, train station and church.

	“All I want to do is stay in my home, I worked so hard for this place.  I worked at O’Hare Airport for 16 years, traveling over 40 miles each way.  If I wanted to move, I would have moved then.”

And, it is a home they have made their own.  In the basement, Peter’s extensive tool collection sits across from the sewing area where Frances quilts.  Their garden blooms with dozens of plants, many of them cultivated by seeds they planted over the decades.  In the spring, they even preserve crops for the winter months.  The same framed structure that stood as a 30-year old mechanic’s American Dream in the 1960s reflects the character of the family that continues to call it home.

Only one problem—City officials are poised to seize and bulldoze the Dennis’ treasured home, abusing the government’s power of eminent domain, so a private developer can build a 600-space parking garage for a new cinema.

“All I want to do is stay in my home,”[1] Peter said.  “I worked so hard for this place.  I worked at O’Hare Airport for 16 years, traveling over 40 miles each way.  If I wanted to move, I would have moved then.”

Peter even has a solution, one that accounts for the City’s economic development goals while simultaneously respecting his fundamental right to keep what he and his wife have owned and maintained for decades.  It turns out the City owns a 3.5-acre vacant plot of land located just across the street from the proposed $65 million development funded by L&H Real Estate Group of Chicago. 

“I asked, ‘Why don’t you build the parking lot there?’  They told me that piece of property is far too valuable to build a parking lot,” Peter said, adding, “Wait a minute, my home is valuable.  I don’t know how long I’m going to live, I just want to enjoy it.”

It is not just their home facing the government’s wrecking ball.  The Dennises own another house next door, where their son lived for several years.

	“I asked, ‘Why don’t you build the parking lot there?’  They told me that piece of property is far too valuable to build a parking lot,” Peter said, adding, “Wait a minute, my home is valuable.  I don’t know how long I’m going to live, I just want to enjoy it.”

Instead, City officials are moving forward with plans for an 11-screen movie theater, 110 high-end condos and 60,000 square feet of retail space at North Street and Oak Park Avenue.  And the Dennis family’s small, hard-earned place on Earth?  “They’re taking our home for parking spaces,” Peter said.  “It’s just not fair.” 

Meanwhile, the Illinois Legislature is one of 47 states to introduce, consider or pass legislation aiming to curb eminent domain abuse since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kelo v. City of New London last summer.  But the proposed bills currently being considered in the Prairie State contain such gaping loopholes and exceptions that an abuse as egregious as Tinley Park’s threatened condemnation of the Dennis’ home would likely still be permissible under law. 

When asked by the Chicago Tribune whether the City would consider drafting an alternative plan that would allow Peter and Frances to keep their home, Assistant Village Manager Mike Mertens said, “The main option we are looking at is to try and acquire their property.”[2]

Nationwide, hardworking Americans such as Peter Dennis continue to face eminent domain for private profit—people who want nothing more than to enjoy their retirement in their beloved homes. 

“I planted a garden, I have got my trees.  Money is not the object,” Peter said.  “All my memories are in this house.  It’s just so sad that I may have to leave.”

Let’s hope the City changes course before it is too late so that Peter and Frances can continue to call the 6600 block of 173^rd Street home.