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70 ILCS 1230/ Park Commissioners Water Control Act.

(70 ILCS 1230/0.01) (from Ch. 105, par. 91.9)     Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Park Commissioners Water Control Act. (Source: P.A. 86‑1324.)

    (70 ILCS 1230/1)(from Ch. 105, par. 92)
    Sec. 1. Every board of park commissioners existing under the laws of this state, which has now, or may hereafter have or acquire control over any public park, boulevard or driveway bordering upon any public waters in this state shall have the power to extend such park, boulevard or driveway over and upon the bed of such public waters, and that every board of park commissioners existing under the laws of this state, which now has, or may hereafter have or acquire, control over two or more separate public parks, whether they constitute a part of one park system or not, bordering upon any public waters in this state, shall have power to connect the same by constructing a park, boulevard, driveway or parkway, extending over and upon the submerged land and bed of such public waters, and over and upon any lands adjacent to or adjoining upon or penetrating into such waters, and may extend any such park by constructing a park, boulevard, driveway or parkway over any private property, and over any navigable river or any part thereof which lies within the territory, the property of which shall be taxable for the maintenance of the park under the control of said board of park commissioners, so as to connect such park, boulevard, driveway or parkway with any park, boulevard, driveway or parkway now or hereafter constructed, and connected with or forming a part of any other park system; and in extending such park or in constructing such park, boulevard, driveway or parkway, the said board of park commissioners may construct such viaducts, bridges or tunnels or parts of viaducts, bridges or tunnels, within its said territory as to it may seem necessary, and that every such board of park commissioners may acquire the lands, or the riparian or other rights of the owners of lands, or both, whether of individuals or corporations, on the shores adjacent to or adjoining the public waters or rivers in which it is proposed to construct any such park, boulevard, driveway or parkway, or extension or connection, also the title of the private or public owners, if any there be, to lands lying beneath, adjacent to or adjoining such public waters or rivers, also the title of any lands penetrating into such public waters and the title of any lands into, upon or over which it is proposed to construct any such park, boulevard, driveway or parkway or any such extension or connection, or any viaduct, bridge or tunnel forming a part thereof, by contract with or deed from any such owner or owners, whether individuals or corporations, or by condemnation: Provided, however, that no extension which shall be made shall interfere with the practical navigation of such public waters or rivers for the purposes of commerce, without due authority from the proper official of the United States government having control thereof. Said board of park commissioners and said riparian or adjacent owners are hereby authorized to agree upon a boundary line dividing such adjacent, adjoining, submerged and penetrating lands, acquired or to be acquired by said board of park commissioners, and such adjacent, adjoining, submerged and penetrating lands to be taken, owned and used by said riparian or other owners in lieu of and as compensation for the release of said lands and riparian rights to said board of park commissioners. In case said board of park commissioners are unable to agree with and such owner or owners or persons interested, either as to such boundary or dividing line and such lands to be taken by such riparian or other owners and persons interested as compensation for the release and granting of said lands and riparian or other rights or in case the compensation to be paid for or in respect of the property, riparian or other rights, the adjacent, adjoining, submerged and penetrating or other lands sought to be appropriated or damaged for the purposes mentioned in this act, cannot be agreed upon by the parties interested, or in case the owner of the property is incapable of consenting, or his name or residence is unknown, or he is a non‑resident of the state, or, if in any event, the said board of park commissioners shall elect to acquire the riparian or other rights, or the adjacent, adjoining, submerged, and penetrating or other lands, or any such rights or lands, proceedings may be had to condemn the said riparian or other rights and the said adjacent, adjoining, submerged and penetrating or other lands, or any of them, according to the provisions for the exercise of the right of eminent domain under the Eminent Domain Act.
(Source: P.A. 94‑1055, eff. 1‑1‑07.)

(70 ILCS 1230/1‑a) (from Ch. 105, par. 93)     Sec. 1‑a. The fact that any individual, corporation, or other person shall be made a party defendant to any such condemnation proceedings hereby authorized, shall not establish any presumption as to the validity or the extent of the title of such defendant, but before damages shall be assessed to any such defendant, the court shall first find and adjudge the right, title, and interest of such defendant in the property sought to be taken or damaged, and through such condemnation proceedings the said board of park commissioners shall acquire whatever right, title, interest or claim such defendant may have. (Source: Laws 1903, p. 256.)

    (70 ILCS 1230/1‑b)
    Sec. 1‑b. Eminent domain. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, any power granted under this Act to acquire property by condemnation or eminent domain is subject to, and shall be exercised in accordance with, the Eminent Domain Act.
(Source: P.A. 94‑1055, eff. 1‑1‑07.)

(70 ILCS 1230/2) (from Ch. 105, par. 94)     Sec. 2. In all cases in which said board of park commissioners shall have acquired or contracted to acquire the riparian rights of the owners of any lands along the shore adjoining such public waters or rivers, or have acquired or contracted to acquire lands owned or claimed by such owners, and have agreed upon the dividing line aforesaid, such board of park commissioners shall file petitions or complaints in the circuit court of the county in which such lands are situated, praying that the boundary line between the lands acquired or to be acquired by the defendants in such suit and the lands acquired or to be acquired by such board of park commissioners under this Act and under such contracts, may be established and confirmed by the judgment of such court, as agreed upon by such parties, to which complaints or petitions all persons interested in such riparian rights and lands as owners or otherwise as appearing of record, if known, or if not known, stating that fact, shall be made defendants. Persons interested whose names are unknown, may be made parties defendants by the description of the unknown owners; but in all such cases, an affidavit shall be filed by or on behalf of the petitioner or plaintiff, setting forth that the names of such persons are unknown; such board of park commissioners shall also give public notice of the filing of each such complaint or petition by publication thereof once a week for 3 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation regularly published in the city in which or nearest to which such riparian rights or lands are situated, which notice shall contain the title of the suit and the designation of a return day at which the defendants are to appear, the last of which notices shall be published not less than 10 days or more than 20 days before the day so designated for appearance. The defendants who do not enter their appearance shall be served with process in the suits so instituted in the same manner as in other civil suits, and the proceedings in such cause shall be conducted in the same manner as in other civil suits. Any legal voter or taxpayer within the district or territory in which the property shall be taxable for the maintenance of the park system under the control of such board of park commissioners, shall be permitted to enter his appearance and become a party defendant in the proceedings and may answer or may file any appropriate motion as in other civil cases. If, upon a hearing, the court shall find that the rights and interests of the public have been duly conserved in and by such an agreement, then the court shall confirm such agreement and establish such boundary line; otherwise, the court shall, in its discretion, dismiss such complaint or petition. If the dividing line agreed upon shall be so established and confirmed by the judgment of the court, it shall thereafter be the permanent dividing and boundary line of such lands, and shall not be affected or changed thereafter, either by accretions or erosions; and the owners of such short lands are hereby granted by the State of Illinois, the title to the adjacent, adjoining, submerged, penetrating and other lands, whether of natural or artificial formation, lying upon the inner or land side of said boundary line when so established, and they shall have the right to fill in, improve, protect, use for all lawful purposes, sell and convey the submerged or other lands up to the line so established, free from any adverse claim in any way arising out of any question as to where the shore line was at any time in the past, or as to the title to any existing accretions, and the board of park commissioners is hereby granted by the State of Illinois, the title for park purposes to the adjacent, adjoining, submerged, penetrating, artificially made and other lands lying upon the outer or water side of the boundary line and opposite and adjoining to the lands granted and confirmed by such judgment to such riparian, shore or other owners. It shall be the duty of the Attorney General to appear in such proceedings and assert the claim of the State of Illinois, if any, as to any lands involved in such proceeding, which have been improperly taken, made or occupied, and the court shall proceed to hear and determine such claim in the proceeding. If it shall be found that any land has been wrongfully taken, made or occupied to which the State of Illinois can assert title, it shall be the duty of the court to enter a judgment requiring proper compensation to be made by the person or persons or corporation taking, making or occupying such lands, or in lieu thereof to vacate the same, and such compensation and the claim of the Attorney General shall be determined before any such agreement between any park board and the alleged owners of such lands shall in any way become effective. The Attorney General shall have the right, upon behalf of the State with the approval of the court, to compromise any claim which the State of Illinois may assert upon such terms as shall be just and equitable to the State of Illinois. The court shall require notice of the pendency of such proceeding to be given to the Attorney General, and before any judgment shall be entered in such proceeding, proof shall be made that such notice has been given. (Source: P.A. 79‑1366.)

(70 ILCS 1230/3) (from Ch. 105, par. 95)     Sec. 3. Such board of park commissioners shall have the power to pay for any such rights, lands or territory, thus acquired, and for the construction and protection of such park, boulevard, driveway or parkway or such extension or connection either out of its general revenues or by the issue and sale, from time to time, of interest bearing bonds, in addition to the bonds now authorized by law to be issued and sold by such board of park commissioners: Provided, no bonds shall be issued under this act contrary to the provisions of Section 12, Article IX, of the Constitution of this State: And, provided, further, That the proposition to issue such bonds shall first be submitted to a vote of the legal voters of such park district and shall receive a majority of the votes cast upon such proposition. And authority is hereby expressly granted to the board of park commissioners issuing such bonds to levy and collect a direct annual tax upon the property within their jurisdiction, in addition to the amount of any tax now authorized by law to be levied and collected by them, sufficient to pay the interest on said bonds as it falls due and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof within twenty (20) years from the date of issuing said bonds, and the county clerk of the county in which such park district is located or such other officer or officers as are by law authorized to spread or assess taxes for park purposes shall, on receiving a certificate from such board of park commissioners that the amount mentioned in such certificate is necessary to pay the interest on said bonds and also to pay and discharge the principal thereof within twenty (20) years from the date of issuing said bonds, spread and assess such amount upon the taxable property embraced in said park district the same as other park taxes are by laws spread and assessed, and the same shall be collected and paid over the same as other park taxes are required by law to be collected and paid. (Source: Laws 1903, p. 256.)

(70 ILCS 1230/4) (from Ch. 105, par. 96)     Sec. 4. The title to any such extension or connection of such park or parks, boulevards, driveways and parkways, and to the bed thereof shall be, and hereby becomes vested in such board of park commissioners for public purposes, and the same shall thereby become a part of the public park or parks under the control of such board, and shall thenceforth be maintained and controlled by such board in the manner provided by law, for the government and maintenance of other parks, boulevards and driveways under its control, and in all cases where any boulevard, driveway or parkway is extended, or constructed, under the provisions of this act, the title to the submerged lands lying between the shore of such public waters, and the inner line of the extension of such boulevard, driveway or parkway, shall be, and thereby becomes vested in such board of park commissioners for public purposes; and in case any such park, boulevard, driveway or parkway, extension or connection as provided in this act, shall be made into, over or upon the bed of Lake Michigan by any such board of park commissioners, then the right, title and interest of the State of Illinois in and to the bed of so much of said Lake Michigan shall be vested in such board of park commissioners as in other cases provided in this act, and for the same purposes and with the same rights and power. (Source: Laws 1903, p. 256.)

(70 ILCS 1230/5) (from Ch. 105, par. 97)     Sec. 5. No such board of park commissioners shall be hereby authorized to extend any of its park or boulevard system outside of or beyond the limits of the district or territory, the property of which shall be taxable for the maintenance of the parks under the control of such board of park commissioners, except into, over and upon public waters or rivers adjoining or being a part of such district. (Source: Laws 1903, p. 256.)

(70 ILCS 1230/6) (from Ch. 105, par. 98)     Sec. 6. The powers granted by this act to any board of park commissioners shall not be construed to have been exhausted by any one use of the same, but said commissioners may, from time to time, proceed with further enlargements or extensions: Provided, however, That all such enlargements or extensions lie within the district or territory, the property in which shall be taxable for the maintenance of the park systems under the control of such board of park commissioners, or within public waters or rivers adjoining or being a part of such district or territory. (Source: Laws 1903, p. 256.)