A local housing developer wants to build six duplex units that could extend a strip of 12 rowhouses already under construction at Mill Street and Bauer Road in Naperville.
Plans for Bauer Road Duplexes won the unanimous endorsement Wednesday of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, but not without concerns raised about the potential for increased traffic and consistency between designs and finished buildings.
The development is to be built immediately east of the Park Place rowhouses on a half-acre site on which a one house currently sits in unincorporated DuPage County. Petitioner Hawkeye Property Holdings is an affiliate of Naperville-based builder Redstart Construction, the same firm that is nearing completion of Park Place.
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“The proposed duplexes are intended to be a logical transition and extension of this townhome development,” project attorney Eric Prechtel told the commission.
Annexation into the city of Naperville is required. That decision will be made by the Naperville City Council, but commissioners did recommend the council approve rezoning the property for a transitional use district and a variance that would allow for up to 45% of the rear yard to be used for an access road and guest parking.
A traffic study submitted with petition documents shows new vehicle trips generated by the duplexes would be minimal. But commissioners worried that other developments along Mill Street — including the Prosperita townhouses and Orion STEM school at Mill and Diehl Road — could make the area much busier in the future.
Some of Mill Street is a DuPage County roadway, meaning the city doesn’t have authority to decide when it needs improvements. Commission Chair Whitney Robbins asked for greater coordination between the city, county and developers when evaluating traffic projections.
“We’ve approved some pretty significant developments along Mill Street, and we have a couple pending,” Robbins said. “We get so many speakers and residents speaking about traffic, and I feel like there is a disconnect across the board. Especially when we could have five developments on Mill from Jackson to Diehl. That’s a huge change.”
The project’s traffic engineer, Stephen Corcoran, said the traffic study accounted for future growth and still found capacity to handle additional cars at Mill and Bauer.
Traffic concerns aside, commissioners said they liked the design sketches submitted by project architect Meyer Design.
But several on the panel noted that the final look of Redstart’s Park Place buildings appear far different than images the commission had been shown. Commissioner Allison Longenbaugh said variations include different colors of exterior stone — with black, white and gray used instead of the tan or sandy colors presented to them.
Commissioners asked for assurances that reality won’t vary from designs in this case.
“I love the pictures. I hope that’s what is developed,” Commissioner Derek McDaniel said. “I would not like to see something else other than what’s pictured here. I’m supportive, but I want city council to take a hard look and ensure that what’s being presented ends up being built.”
Prechtel said the developer would be happy to provide assurance of “substantial conformance” with presented designs.
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Steve Meyer of Meyer Design said his company is not the same firm that drew up Park Place. The only potential change to duplex designs, he said, could be to bring in “a little more color,” in shades he described as subtle earth tones — nothing “outrageous and cold.”
The council will consider the project’s zoning, rear yard coverage and annexation requests at a future meeting.
Marie Wilson is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.