Love’s wins court ruling after 6-year dispute over Joliet rest stop location – Shaw Local

An appeals court in the US state of Illinois has ruled in favor of Love’s Travel Stops in what is now a sixth year of litigation since Joliet approved the site for a new rest stop.

A Love’s spokeswoman said the company was looking forward to building in Joliet, while a leader of the opposition group said they had not given up the fight.

In a ruling Thursday, the Third District Court of Appeal in Ottawa ruled that the narrow strip of land connecting the Loves’ property to the city of Joliet was a legitimate annexation.

Love’s wants the site at the Briggs Street intersection with Interstate 80 to become part of the city of Joliet so that a future rest area can be supplied with city water and sewer.

Neighbors of the site opposed the rest area’s annexation before it was approved by the Joliet City Council in October 2018. They subsequently filed suit to block the city’s approval, relying primarily on the claim that a 22-foot-wide strip of land used to connect the site to Joliet did not amount to legal annexation.

The appeals court’s ruling upheld a Will County District Court decision in favor of annexation. The appeals court added, “This decision does not create a rule regarding the minimum length that a contiguity of lots creates.”

Love’s spokeswoman Lauren Daniels said in an email Friday that the company was pleased with the decision and looked forward to “continuing the process of joining the Joliet community.”

Jacquenette Cottrell, a leader of the neighborhood group fighting the rest area, said they have not given up the fight.

“This is far from over,” Cottrell said.

The next legal step would be to take the case to the Illinois Supreme Court.

However, Cottrell also pointed to a change in city leadership since the city council approved the incorporation of Love.

In 2018, then-Mayor Bob O’Dekirk cast the sixth vote needed for the two-thirds majority required for annexation, with the final vote being 6-3 in favor of Love’s Rest Area.

O’Dekirk is no longer mayor and Cottrell said the new council members are understanding of their neighbor’s cause.

What a new city council might do about Love’s annexation, however, is unclear. It is unlikely that the city could reverse a previous annexation decision in a new vote.