Oswego panel deadlocks on vote on Traughber development

The Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission came to a deadlock recently on a measure to recommend rezoning the old Traughber Junior High School site in the village for a proposed residential development.

The advisory group’s 3-3 vote last week essentially forwards a vote of no recommendation to the Oswego Village Board, which has the final vote on the project.

The commission was deadlocked on a vote for the preliminary and final planned unit development for the property as well.

The proposed development would be called Traughber Estates of Oswego and include 162 owner-occupied townhomes and rental apartments on the 12.34-acre Traughber property at the northeast corner of Route 71 and Washington Street.

The former Traughber Junior High School building, built originally as a high school in 1948, would be razed as part of the proposed project. Oswego School District 308 relocated Traughber students to a new building several years ago.

Some residents have objected to the project, saying it is not compatible with the surrounding neighborhood and would burden an already congested roadway system.

School District 308 and the developer requested the village rezone the site from a single-unit dwelling district to a multiple-unit dwelling district for the proposed project.

“I would juxtapose this with any school site in the village,” Oswego Planning and Zoning Commission member Rick Kuhn said. There likely would be a “backlash” if any school site within the village was selected to be the home for a new development, he said.

“The public opinion has been firmly against this from the inception,” Kuhn said.

He differs with those who say that the proposed development “is the highest and best use of the property.”

“I don’t believe that to be true,” Kuhn said. “This is one of the smallest and original neighborhoods that there is. The highest and best use would not be at the expense of this portion of our community. This (proposal) serves the development process and the district possibly the highest and best because of their return, but I do not acquiesce to the statement that this is the highest and best use for this property. It is completely an erroneous statement.”

JM Developers originally presented a higher density concept plan for the project before the Planning and Zoning Commission in September 2025. The developer at that point was looking to build two five-story buildings, four three-story buildings and six townhome buildings for a total of 239 residential units at the site. The commission recommended denial of the plan by a vote of 8-0.

A revised concept plan for five three-story buildings and six townhome buildings for a total of 162 residential units at the site was presented to the Oswego Village Board in December 2025. Trustees directed staff to work with the school district and developer to continue the development review process for the proposed plan, village officials said.

The cost of the demolition work proposed for the site was raised by Commissioner Terry Anderson. The estimates are mainly for the Village Board and school district to discuss and not the focus of the Planning and Zoning Commission, village officials said.

“What is the number that we the citizens are going to have to come up with to subsidize and put the transaction together,” Anderson said.

“Our purpose here is land use and conformance to a comprehensive plan,” Commissioner David Rood said.

“The financial part should be handled at the Village Board level,” Rood said, noting the density for the project is down to 67% of what it was originally. “That’s a significant alteration.”

The Oswego Village Board in April approved a series of ordinances deemed as “necessary precursors” for the eventual redevelopment of the Traughber property.

The majority of the surrounding area is zoned for single-family homes. However, there is zoning across the street to the south for an existing nursing home, according to officials. There is zoning due west of the site for an existing apartment building as well, village officials said in a report to plan commission members.

“I think it’s a lose-lose,” Commissioner Lisa Hillman said of the proposed project. “I do appreciate the effort that has been put in to reduce the density. This is an interesting piece of land because it is a school being sold to a private entity. In our role, we don’t get to decide what land is being sold or who it is being sold to.”

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Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.