‘Feathering’ would be bad for Barrington Hills

I live on the boundary of Barrington Hills and would be one of the people immediately affected by any policy of “feathering,” where a buffer zone of smaller properties is set up between 5-acre properties and high density housing. This sounds OK in principle, but let me tell you about the realities.

My family has lived in Barrington Hills for three generations. Several years ago, a large 300-acre parcel of farmland was subdivided. It is less than a half-mile from my house. The result of the subdivision has been a dramatic increase in traffic (to the point that it is now difficult to gain access to and from our road), trash everywhere and a drop in my property value.

If you think that the introduction of subdivisions smaller than five acres will happen without a negative effect on the quality of life in Barrington Hills, then you cannot have experienced reality as I have. And that does not even start to consider the costs and environmental effects of water supply and septic systems for subdivisions.

You won’t be able to describe Barrington Hills as a horse-riding rural community, a pristine jewel in the otherwise suburban congestion of Chicago. This possibility is not just limited to me on the outer boundary but also affects people living next to inner boundaries around the unincorporated areas of the village.

Does everyone realize this? The greed of a few, with money, could totally destroy the quality of life for many.

We have to protect our 5-acre minimum status. Feathering is for chickens, not Barrington Hills.

Muffy Cooke

Barrington Hills