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News
Attorney for developer: big lots still part of plan : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisAttorney for developer: big lots still part of plan
| by Matt Schury
| 1/14/2010
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How would Henneberry Woods Subdivision in NaAuSay Township be affected if the owners of the property sold a third of it to the Kendall County Forest Preserve Distinct?
That's the question Dan Kramer, a local attorney representing the owners of Henneberry, and Mike Schoppe, the planner for the subdivision, tried to answer, at the county board's Planning Building and Zoning Committee meeting Monday night.
Most county board members were present at the PBZ meeting.
The 10 members of the Kendall County Board also make up the Forest Preserve District Board.
About a month ago, the Forest Preserve board rejected a proposal by co-developers Ron Wehrli of Crestview Builders and Wendy Yaksich, chief operating officer of Moser Enterprises, to sell the district about 213 acres of the 594 acre subdivision. Wehrli is Kendall County Board member Jeff Werhrli's cousin.
The land was offered to the district for $25,638 per acre for a total price of $5,460,894. The money was expected to come from referendum funds. The property is located south of Oswego in unincorporated NaAuSay Township, north of Route 126, along the west side of Grove Road.
Tuesday, Kramer said he just wanted to clear the air.
"We just wanted to take the opportunity to tell you it was not done in a vacuum and we think we can accomplish everything we promised to do in Henneberry in terms of integrity, quality and open space with a bit of a smaller subdivision," Kramer said.
Kramer acknowledged that his clients were aware that selling the land would affect the PUD agreement.
"There are obvious effects-you have to make street alignments work, you have to make sure open space requirements work, you have to make sure we fall with in the density calculations," Kramer said.
The Forest Preserve District Board was scheduled to take up the issue of buying the property at their meeting Wednesday, Jan. 13.
Kramer took a moment to reflect on the history of the subdivision, recalling that Henneberry came close to being a subdivision within the Village of Oswego with 1,500 lots platted with water and sewer.
"I think we did the right thing preserving the open space and trees. Crestview and Moser want to do right by the county and the residents out there," Kramer said.
The subdivision plans, approved by the County Board for Henneberry in 2004, show 357 homes. The proposal to sell the 213 acres would remove 117 lots from the plan and shrink the total subdivision size to 375 acres, according to Kramer. However, the average lot size of about 35,000 square feet per lot would stay the same.
"You're not going to see any deviation from lot size. You're still going to see big lots," Kramer said.
Net open space gain
There were about 245 acres that were set aside as open space in the original plan, Jerry Dudgeon, the county's planning building and zoning director, said, or 39.4 percent of the total acres of the development.
Dudgeon told the board that developers would have to maintain that ratio if they sold a portion of their property to the forest preserve district. That would come to about 148 acres of open space under the new proposal.
Board member John Purcell said the county needed to seriously consider the amount of open space that would be gained.
"So we are losing about 98 acres of open space and the forest preserve would be picking up 213 so the net gain to the residents of the county would be 115 acres of open space," Purcell said. "Is it right for the county to make those changes to the zoning for 115 acres of open space after this subdivision has been approved? I question that," Purcell said.
Kramer responded that the only answer they have is that there is a difference between private and public open space.
"Right now it is private open space limited to the residents and owners of Henneberry, where the transfer would open it up to public benefit," Kramer said.
Schoppe told the board there are four issues with shrinking the subdivision including, foremost, how it will affect the road and drainage system.
"The one thing that will probably be impacted the most is the road system," he said. "I don't see any impact to what has already been designed and built in phase one."
Other issues include any impact to the eight homes already built and if there will be any damage to the remaining land to be developed.
The proposed clubhouse would shrink and the building would be shifted to the east to be in the new center of the subdivision, Schoppe said. The planned drainage basins would also change and need to be adjusted with the smaller development.
However, a proposed dedication of 36 acres to the Oswegoland Park District would not be changed by the purchase.
Schoppe explained that he would revise the preliminary plans and come back with the proper adjustments.
"It will take some time and thought, but it is not complicated and it can be done," he contended.
The first step for the developers would be to file a petition to amend their PUD with the county asking permission to sell it, according to Kramer. The group will also have to have a preliminary PUD concept plan and an ordinance approving an amendment to the PUD.
Kramer said he expected the amendment to take about three months.
"Is your client ready to wait three or four months before this board is read to make a decision on what it is going to do from a zoning perspective?" Purcell asked.
Kramer responded that they have no choice but to wait.
"They can't sell this a chunk out of the PUD and then come in for a final plat and say 'Here's our final plat that conforms to the preliminary, but oh my God, we got a big hole in the donut that's gone,'" Kramer said.
On the other hand, Kramer pointed out, the county doesn't want to be responsible for saying they are not going to hold the developers' feet to the fire on the original PUD agreement without an analysis that can meet all the standards.
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