The Oswego Village Board Tuesday evening will consider a revised concept plan with fewer housing units for the former site of Traughber Junior High School in the village.
The development is proposed for a 12.34-acre property – owned by Oswego-based School District 308 – at the northeast corner of Route 71 and Washington Street within relatively close proximity to downtown Oswego.
The site includes the former Traughber Junior High School building, which would be razed as part of the proposed development.
Village trustees are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Oswego Village Hall, 100 Parkers Mill.
JM Development – a joint venture – originally presented a proposal to the Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission about the project. However, the commission recommended denial of the project based on the density of housing units in the proposed development.
Oswego officials said the developer has since modified the concept plan based on public feedback before bringing the proposal to the Village Board, which has the final say on the project.
The overall number of units was reduced from 239 to 202, and the number of five-story buildings have been reduced from two to one, Oswego Development Services Director Rod Zenner said in a report to trustees.
In addition, the amount of open space in the proposed project has been increased from 1.55 acres to 3.53 acres and walking paths have been increased from 0.6 miles to 2.37 miles, and the overall number of trees in the proposed development has increased 40%, Zenner said.
Staff is looking for direction from members of the Village Board on the concept plan for the proposed project, which is called Traughber Estates. Staff members are looking for direction on whether they should be authorized to begin negotiating a redevelopment agreement between the village, Oswego-based School District 308 and the developer for the project.
The site is in the village’s tax increment financing district, Zenner said.
“School District 308 has asked the village join in a tri-party redevelopment agreement with the petitioner to help convey the property and to share in the distribution of TIF increment generated by the project,” Zenner said in his report.
District 308 relocated Traughber students to a new building several years ago. Since that time the site has been used for some school activities. The former Traughber school was once the location for the YMCA and Oswego Senior Center as well.
School District 308 has marketed the property over the years. Several potential buyers were interested in reuse of the site, including Resurrection Church of the Fox Valley in 2019, which has a storefront church near Fox Valley Mall in Aurora.
However, it was determined that proposal would have been cost prohibitive based on the condition of the existing structure on the site and the need for upgrades including a fire protection sprinkler system and fire hydrants.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.