After months of back and forth, the Lake Zurich Village Board voted at its first meeting of the new year voted to nix a proposed housing development on Old Rand Road
The board could have approved the development, sent it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission or simply refused it. The board chose the latter without much discussion at the Jan. 3 meeting.
Resident Ken Boss said during the public comments portion of the meeting that the site, at 670 Old Rand Road, was not a fit “as a multifamily townhouse development.”
Additionally, he worried what impact the proposed homes and the increase in families who would live in the development could have on local schools and water supply.
Residents and even Village Board members have remained concerned about population density, and some have also taken issue with water collection and trees. The site, as it exists now, is a reservoir for flood water and a greenspace.
The issue first emerged at the Village Board meetings in October, after getting an initial go-ahead from the Planning and Zoning Commission, for 58 single family townhouse development. At the time, the board suggested the developers, OSK Capital Partners, return with a smaller neighborhood footprint.
The development group then proposed a plan for 50 attached single-family townhouses in 12 buildings, but this didn’t quell concerns about crowding. The proposed density would have been 5.37 units per acre, while initially the plan was for 6.32 units per acre, on average.
The community’s water supply is an ongoing concern, as Lake Zurich is seeking other resources to replace its ground well reservoirs in anticipation of future development.
Elise Hood, who has spoken in the past against the proposal, said at the meeting she wanted the board to refuse the project outright.
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“They only decreased the amount of units, not the amount of buildings, and I don’t believe that’s right,” Hood said.
She said the neighborhood is already full.
“It’s jam packed. If it were single family homes [as opposed to town homes] I’d be willing to accept that,” she said. “This is very disappointing. …. I hope you guys deny the proposal.”
Several residents sent emails to village leaders, officials said, also complaining that the units would be too compact, too busy and encourage too many cars in the neighborhood.
Mayor Tom Poynton said some 64 residents emailed comments about the proposed development, with the majority agreeing it was a bad idea.
On behalf of the developers, Dennis Kulak, with Chicago-based KLLM, said the property is heavily wooded as it is. He intimated the wooded nature of the area would appear the same, though this didn’t seem to sway any of the board members, even as he said the newer design moved the proposed units back off the street.
But Poynton, himself, didn’t seem opposed to the development. He agreed the village didn’t need or seek an influx of new residents, and he didn’t think the development would have such an attraction.
“This village doesn’t blatantly seek mass residential development,” he said. “The larger residential developments are happening in neighboring villages.”
The mayor said that, with 32 parks in Lake Zurich, “kids will have a place to play.”
Also, Poynton said a number of complaints seemed to hint at a pay-to-play scheme where he was making money off zoning regulations. He flatly rejected that idea.
“The code isn’t for sale and if you think that and if you can prove it, come and see me,” Poynton said.
The mayor also attempted to dispel any notion he was seeking to move Lake Zurich to home rule status.
“Home rule is not a goal of this board. Or if it is, no one has told me that,” Poynton said.
Jesse Wright is a freelancer.