The developer of the proposed 401-unit Polo Club residential subdivision can begin work on an annexation agreement with city staff after ironing out a few plan wrinkles with the Naperville City Council this week.
Pulte Homes wants to annex 110 acres of former polo grounds into the city on which they will build 252 single-family homes, 149 town houses, a park and two multiuse playing fields along 119th Street between Route 59 and Book Road.
Council members gave Pulte direction on five points, several of which address traffic challenges in the area.
The biggest point of contention was the Hawkweed Drive connection to the South Pointe subdivision.
Pulte attorney Russell Whitaker said South Pointe residents raised concerns that motorists would cut through the Polo Club and South Pointe to avoid traffic that backs up 119th Street.
In response, Pulte offered to install a gate at the Hawkweed Drive for emergency vehicles to use that would remain in place until long-term improvements are made to 119th Street, which could take 10 years to complete, Whitaker said.
South Pointe resident Jeremy Emabalabala said his neighborhood has no issue with the Polo Club plans other than traffic should Hawkweed Drive open before 119th Street is widened.
City staff said Hawkweed would not be an attractive cut-through route for drivers living outside the neighborhoods due to the nature of the roadway network. It was suggested the gate remain closed until the majority of the Polo Club construction is complete.
Mayor Steve Chirico said he’d prefer a fixed time, such as five years, and the majority of the council agreed.
Bill Novack, director of the Transportation, Engineering and Development department, said the city will take traffic counts before and after the gate opens.
If the area is flooded with traffic, the city can apply various traffic calming measures to address the problem, Novack said.
If those methods don’t work, the city’s Transportation Advisory Board and the council can revisit reclosing the gate, he said.
It was agreed Pulte should pay the full $500,000 needed for the first phase of the engineering study for long-term improvements to 119th Street.
Pulte proposed contributing $300,000 and the city covering the remaining $200,000, but staff recommended — and the council concurred — that Pulte pick up the full tab.
The council also directed Pulte to adjust an intersection in the development’s northern section that both Whitaker and Novack described as “clunky.”
Whitaker said the T-intersection’s proximity to a sharp curve was intentionally designed to force traffic to slow down.
Novack countered that the proposed alignment could make it difficult for drivers to determine which street is the through street and which approach is required to stop.
Staff urged a reconfiguration, and the council agreed.
The city also agreed to grant code deviations and variances, such as not meeting the 50% brick facade requirement for town houses, if Pulte provides some units at prices below market rates.
Whitaker said Pulte applied suggestions offered by city consultant SB Friedman for creating more affordable housing in Naperville.
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While the council has not adopted any measure requiring affordable housing units, Whitaker said Pulte is committing to sell 20% of the Townes series town homes and Springs series single-family homes at an affordability level to target buyers at 80% to 100% of Naperville’s area median income, or AMI.
While the below-market units don’t meet federal affordable housing standards, staff and council agreed the units will diversify the city’s housing stock.
Several council members initially were apprehensive about reducing the brick facade requirement until Whitaker showed them comparison photos of Pulte town houses with brick and without. Council members agreed the brick townhomes looked lackluster.
Before any annexation agreement with Pulte can proceed, Naperville must pursue a new boundary pact with Plainfield. The previous agreement expired in February 2017.
Chirico said he and City Manager Doug Krieger met with Plainfield village officials and they don’t have a problem with Naperville annexing the Polo Club property, though the village still wants the vacant property within its planning area.
TED Deputy Director Allison Laff said a formal boundary agreement would need to be approved by Plainfield first before it’s brought to the council.