ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst has little open space compared to other towns in the area.

At this week’s City Council meeting, resident Christie Ainge pointed out data from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, a government entity.

According to the agency’s study, 6.7 percent of the land in Elmhurst is labeled as either open space or vacant land. Of 25 area towns, Elmhurst ranks 19th in such land.

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Neighboring Oak Brook is at 21.4 percent, though Elmhurst was incorporated more than 70 years earlier.

Bensenville, Villa Park and Addison are among the towns with more open space. So are Naperville, Downers Grove and Western Springs.

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By contrast, Elmhurst has more open space than Hinsdale, La Grange and Northlake.

Ainge and others are fighting to protect city-owned parkland between Schiller and Third streets, at the end of Second Street and Elmhurst Avenue.

The city is considering selling the land to a developer, with the proceeds helping pay for a new police station.

Ainge said the study shows Elmhurst’s challenge.

“When it comes to natural resources like open space, Elmhurst is limited. We have parks, but many residents still voice wanting more parks spread all throughout Elmhurst,” she said. “So it seems completely unfathomable to want to destroy one of the last remaining open spaces and natural resources that we have.”

More than 1,000 residents have signed an online petition asking the city to preserve the parkland.

At the meeting, the parkland’s backers presented 100 emails in support of their cause.

The land in question is the site of the old Elmhurst Hospital, given to the city nearly a half-century ago.

So far, city officials have been silent about what they will do. A 50-year agreement to bar development on the land ends next April.

The new police station is estimated to cost $48 million. In city documents, the parkland has been included among the options for helping pay for the new building.

According to the city, the parkland is expected to pull in $5 million to $6 million. It could be the site of up to a dozen houses, with values around $1.5 million each, the city said.

For a couple of years, neighbors have been speaking out against the property’s sale.

Here’s a look at the percentage of open space and vacant land in Elmhurst and nearby towns:

Town Percentage Addison 15.7% Bensenville 16.5% Berkeley 1.9% Burr Ridge 8.9% Carol Stream 9.3% Clarendon Hills 15.3% Darien 11.3% Downers Grove 11.2% Elk Grove Village 9.3% Elmhurst 6.7% Glendale Heights 13.4% Glen Ellyn 16.8% Glenview 17.4% Hinsdale 6.5% La Grange 6.3% Lombard 11.2% Oak Brook 21.4% Oakbrook Terrace 5.1% Naperville 13.7% Northlake 3.7% Villa Park 7.4% Western Springs 8.1% Westmont 11.5% Wheaton 9.1% Willowbrook 5.2%

Source: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning

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