SB1211 Engrossed LRB094 04862 LCB 34891 b

1     AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois owns certain real property
3 in the City of Chicago in the Dunning Community Area in Cook
4 County, located in Township 40 North, Range 13 East, Section
5 18, that is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human
6 Services for the operation of the Chicago Read Mental Health
7 Center; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Approximately 30 acres of the Chicago Read Mental
9 Health Center property contain 2 wetlands, an emergent wetland,
10 and other open space that benefit the protection of the Des
11 Plaines watershed; and
 
12     WHEREAS, State-owned wetlands are governed by and must be
13 managed according to the Interagency Wetlands Policy Act of
14 1989 and provisions of Part 1090 of Title 17 of the Illinois
15 Administrative Code; and
 
16     WHEREAS, The mission of the Illinois Department of Human
17 Services is to improve the health, well-being, and quality of
18 life of Illinois citizens; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Parks, open spaces, and forests are important
20 components for the health and well-being of urban residents,
21 contributing to the prevention and amelioration of illness not
22 only by facilitating improvements in physical fitness through
23 exercise, but also by facilitating positive emotional,
24 intellectual, and social experiences; and
 
25     WHEREAS, The Dunning Community Area, in which the property
26 is located, has been identified as underserved by open space
27 and parks in the Land Policies Plans completed by the City and
28 the Chicago Park District, that note that 2 large segments of
29 the Dunning Community have no open space or parkland
30 whatsoever; and
 

 

 

SB1211 Engrossed - 2 - LRB094 04862 LCB 34891 b

1     WHEREAS, The Dunning property was originally donated to
2 Cook County in 1868 by the Dunning family for health and social
3 purposes and was operated by the County as a "poor farm" and a
4 facility for the mentally ill until 1912; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In 1912 Cook County conveyed the 235-acre Dunning
6 property to the State of Illinois to be used for health and
7 social purposes as stated in the original land covenant;
8 therefore
 
9     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
10 represented in the General Assembly:
 
11     Section 5. The Illinois Department of Human Services is
12 hereby authorized to grant and convey a permanent conservation
13 easement to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources on a
14 parcel containing 30 acres, more or less, that is located in
15 Section 18, Township 40 North, Range 13 East of the third
16 principal meridian, Cook County, Illinois, situated to the West
17 and South of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center, for the
18 purpose of preserving and protecting the wetlands and forested
19 area for the benefit of the patients of the facility, the
20 community, and the general public, this 30-acre parcel being
21 more particularly described under Section 10 of this Act.
 
22     Section 10. A parcel containing 30 acres, more or less,
23 located in Section 18, Township 40 North, Range 13 East of the
24 third principal meridian, Cook County, Illinois, situated to
25 the West and South of the Chicago Read Mental Health Center, a
26 more accurate description to be made by an Illinois
27 professional land surveyor, the cost of the survey to be paid
28 for by Friends of the Parks.
 
29     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
30 becoming law.