Love’s wins court decision in 6-year battle over Joliet truck stop site

An Illinois Appellate Court has ruled in favor of Love’s Travel Stops in a court fight now in its sixth year since Joliet approved a site for a new truck stop.

A Love’s spokeswoman said the company looks forward to building in Joliet, while a leader in the opposition group said it has not given up the fight.

In a ruling Thursday, the 3rd District Appellate Court out of Ottawa said the narrow strip of land connecting the Love’s site to the city of Joliet is a legitimate annexation.

Love’s wants the site at the Briggs Street intersection with Interstate 80 to be part of the city of Joliet so a future truck stop could be served with city water and sewer.

Neighbors of the site opposed the truck stop annexation before it was approved by the Joliet City Council in October 2018. They next filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the city approval largely based on the claim that a 19.5-foot strip of land used to connect the site to Joliet did not amount to a legal annexation.

The appellate court ruling supported a decision in Will County Circuit Court in favor of the annexation. The appellate court added, “This decision does not create a rule regarding minimum length creating contiguity of properties.”

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

Jacquenette Cottrell, a leader in the neighborhood group fighting the truck stop, said they have not given up the fight.

“This isn’t over by a long shot,” Cottrell said.

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

Cottrell, however, also pointed to a change in city leadership since the City Council approved the Love’s annexation.

In 2018, then-Mayor Bob O’Dekirk cast the sixth vote needed for the supermajority required for the annexation. The final vote was 6-3 for the Love’s truck stop.

O’Dekirk is no longer mayor, and Cottrell said new council members are sympathetic to the neighbor’s cause.

What a new council could do about the Love’s annexation is unclear, however. The city is unlikely to be able to take a new vote to reverse a past annexation decision.