Mill Creek residents raise ruckus over apartment plan
Mill Creek residents do not want 390 apartments joining their neighborhood — and that’s news to Kane County Board members who voted in favor of that plan last week.
The Kane County Board’s Development Committee approved a request from Shodeen Construction to convert 210,000 square feet of what was originally envisioned as office space into rental units in Geneva. The full county board must still sign off on the plan.
Mill Creek residents are making sure their representatives hear their concerns before that final vote comes. Some residents are passing around a petition against the apartments.
County board member Drew Frasz, who represents Mill Creek, said the phone calls he’s received already conveyed a loud and clear message. Frasz voted for the change in the committee.
“I will oppose the project at this point,” Frasz said. “It’s become apparent that nobody in Mill Creek knew about this.”
Kane County doesn’t require a sign to be erected at the site notifying nearby residents of a possible zoning change for the property, Frasz said. Further, the county requires only a mailed notification be sent to property owners who are directly adjacent to the proposed site.
That means only some industrial businesses were notified. The only other adjacent property contains farmland and open fields. As a result, Mill Creek residents didn’t learn about their possible new neighbors until after the county board committee voted and newspaper stories appeared.
“Residents were furious to say the least,” Mill Creek resident Valerie Copeland said in an email interview. “None of us are opposed to development; we all bought houses knowing development would go there. However, we are united in opposition to this type of development. A rental community of that size and magnitude does not bring any positives to the community that I can see. I believe it’s a shortsighted solution to the economy with complete disregard to the long-term effects it will bring to the area and the residents who live here.”
Frasz said he believes most of the Mill Creek residents he’s spoken with could live with some townhouses. The original development plan for the northwest corner of the community called for 70 townhouses to go along with the 210,000 square feet of commercial and office space.
Frasz said Shodeen could build all of that right now with no further permission from the county board. Option two is pushing forward with the new plan for 390 apartments spread among about 12 buildings and 40,000 square feet of commercial space.
Frasz hopes Shodeen picks a third option, which would be collaborating with Mill Creek residents to create a project both groups can agree on. He believes a sizable chunk of the land will still end up residential and probably even rental property.
“The rental portion of the housing market is the segment everyone agrees will pull us out of this economic slump,” Frasz said. “So you’re going to be seeing rental in a lot of projects going forward.”
Frasz said with a train station stop nearby, there is certainly a case to be made for higher residential density than county board members might otherwise approve.
Frasz, Shodeen representatives and Mill Creek residents will gather at 7 p.m. Monday in a meeting at the Mill Creek clubhouse to try and come to terms.