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NORTH CHICAGO LEGISLATOR PROPOSES 
‘OPEN SPACE’ BILL FOR TOWNSHIPS 
State Rep. John S. Matijevich (D- 
North Chicago) has introduced a 
bill in the Illinois legislature which 
would permit townships to estab- 
lish open space programs. 
The ‘‘Township Open Space Act” 
would allow townships, after a re- 
ferendum, to establish an open 
space program and to acquire land 
and issue bonds for that purpose. 
Under the bill, Matijevich said 
five per cent of the registered voters 
of the township could petition the 
township authorities to hold a spe- 
cial election to submit the question 
of whether the township should 
enter upon an open space program. 
If approved by a majority of 
voters, the town board would be 
authorized to issue bonds up to five 
per cent of the assessed valuation 
of property in the township and to 
levy taxes to pay the interest and 
principal on such bonds. 
Matijevich said that Libertyville 
Supervisor F. T. (Mike) Graham 
asked him to introduce the meas- 
ure so that townships would enjoy 
similar powers granted to counties 
to purchase lands for open space, 
conservation, and preservation pur- 
poses. He said that he supported 
the notion that large-scale develop- 
ments are endangering the most 
valuable natural resource that we 
possess, the land. 
“We have just so much of it; we 
can’t manufacture more of it, and 
we are running the risk that ram- 
pant large-scale developments will 
leave us with little of precious open 
Space for the near and distant 
future. 
The North Chicago Democrat 
said that his legislation would, at 
least, allow the people to decide 
whether they deem it desirable to 
enter into an open space program. 
“There is considerable merit to 
holding a percentage of open space 
land near urban areas to enhance 
scenic resources, to utilize land for 
recreational and educational pur- 
poses, and to preserve a natural 
atmosphere in the midst of the 
whirlwind of urban life.” 
He said that it is becoming in- 
creasingly evident that there are 
even fiscal benefits to communities 
which are able to avoid the tax 
burdens which inevitably accom- 
pany uncontrolled urban expansion. 
Matijevich said that open spaces 
are diminishing in the metropolitan 
area at a greater pace than any- 
where in the country. “It is a dif- 
ficult spiral to stop, because there 
is a lot of money behind it. The 
large developers are building homes 
on some of the best agricultural 
land in the country, and we will 
one day wonder what happened to 
all that rich soil. 
“We act as though recent flooding 
have been acts of God, when our 
blacktop binge and concrete craze 
have caused floods and ‘overdevel- 
opment’ gives promise for more 
serious flooding in the future. 
“It is time that we reflect on the 
future consequences and the serious 
damage that we may be causing in 
later years, because we are failing 
to provide enough spaces.” 
The legislature may not consider 
the “open space bill’ because this 
session will probably be limited to 
appropriation and revenue matters, 
he said. 
