Talk of height, density and what’s appropriate on the edge of downtown Naperville characterized the Planning and Zoning Commission hearing Wednesday night for 11 rowhouses proposed for a site at Benton Avenue and Main Street.
Commissioners voted 7-2 in favor of the proposed M/I Homes development, called Benton + Main, recommending the Naperville City Council approve a planned unit development and several zoning variances so the rowhouses can be built.
The property sits in the city’s TU, or transitional use, zoning district, and it’s also addressed in the Downtown 2030 and comprehensive land-use plans. Differing height allowances and recommendations included in the regulations and planning documents caused some confusion among several neighbors who spoke against the proposed development, calling it too large and not a good fit for the area.
“I think the beauty and charm are fast leaving this city, and it may be time to protect the beauty of Naperville,” said Franklin Avenue resident Chris Carlsen, who lives just north of the site.
Planning and zoning commissioners said the discussion boils down to what makes sense at a corner that’s helping blend the commercial nature and taller buildings of downtown Naperville with the well-established, nearly 100-year-old collection of houses to the north.
“I started out openminded. I still think it’s a very good plan, but I have concerns about the density,” Commissioner Derek McDaniel said. “Naperville needs to continue to find a balance between development and the evolution of what our downtown and transition areas look like. That’s what helps maintain the character and charm that everybody loves about downtown Naperville.”
The property at issue is .82 acres, and owner Calvary Temple Church of Naperville recently put it up for sale after demolishing two houses and a church building that long stood on the site.
M/I Homes is the contract purchaser and plans to build rowhouses spread across three buildings — a seven-unit structure and a duplex facing Benton Avenue and another duplex facing Main Street.
Project attorney Russ Whitaker said designers with M/I Homes, which is based in Naperville and has a national reach, took care to create a plan for attractive, custom residences at a strategic site to add more housing options in downtown Naperville.
The rowhouses would be four stories tall, rising to a height of 46 feet. Each would have three to five bedrooms, two-car garages with entrances at the rear and total unit space ranging from 2,600 to 3,900 square feet.
In the transitional use zoning district, building heights are limited to 35 feet. But Whitaker said the Downtown 2030 plan suggests heights of up to 50 feet at the site could be appropriate.
“I just want to make sure we’re not reliant on the 2030 plan as somehow a guiding principle, because I don’t know if its going to happen as planned,” nearby resident Alice Goodman said. “I ask the commission to hold the development to the existing zoning standards for building size.”
Nearby resident Richard Lowry also criticized the planned height and variances the development would need, including smaller lot sizes, decreased front yard setbacks and structures occupying a higher percentage of the rear yards than allowed by code.
Lowry lives in a three-story, flat-roofed building immediately west of the proposed rowhouse site, a building he bought for his house after it never developed for a mix of commercial and residential uses as intended. Whitaker said Lowry’s building is an “exceptional” and large house at 7,500 square feet.
“I like the idea of townhomes. It puts the building that mine is in context and continuity,” Lowry said. “I don’t like this design.”
Whitaker said it’s important to consider not only neighboring residences when determining if M/I’s design is appropriate for Benton and Main, but also nearby downtown properties. Across Benton to the south of the site is vacant land where the third phase of the Main Street Promenade development has been approved at a size of five stories and 66 feet tall, Whitaker said.
“Everyone wanted to look behind us at the existing single-family homes, not in front of us for what is the context for how you’re transitioning out of downtown,” Whitaker said. “Stepping down to 46 feet (building height) is an appropriate transition coming out of downtown.”
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The majority of commissioners agreed and sent the development to the council with a positive recommendation.
“I just think this design makes a lot of sense for the street and what the future of the street is going to look like,” Commissioner Mark Wright said. “I think density is important to the downtown community and to the (pedestrian) dead zones that happen on that corner.”
Marie Wilson is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.