Housing plan for Naperville golf course rejected over flooding concerns

A proposed subdivision in northwest Naperville called Atwater has raised concerns among neighbors because of, as the development's name suggests, water.

Residents living near Country Lakes Golf Course, where Pulte Home Corp. of Schaumburg has proposed building the 327-home Atwater subdivision, say they already struggle with flooding. Building houses where the golf course is today could make matters worse, they say.

Pamela Peterson, a member of the Longwood homeowners association east of the proposed new homes south of Diehl Road and west of Route 59, said she and a large crowd of neighbors came to a planning and zoning commission meeting this week to oppose Pulte's plans.

“The reason we were all protesting it mostly was stormwater,” Peterson said, calling the area and its ponds and wetlands a “bowl.” “What happens when it rains is it naturally swells up with water.”

Most members of the planning and zoning commission sided with neighbors, voting 7-1 not to recommend the Atwater plans for approval by the city council. Commissioner Robert Williams voted in favor of the homes, which could be built on 204 acres now occupied by the golf course and a vacant property.

Commission Chairwoman Patricia Gustin said she liked many elements of the subdivision, which would include a park, trail connections and keeping half the land open space, according to a memo from Kasey Evans in Naperville's planning services team. But concerns about stormwater, traffic and the lack of new roads for residents caused her to vote against it.

“The proposal was a very good proposal. It's a very difficult parcel,” Gustin said. “The difficulty is that you've got a lot of water retention issues that have to be dealt with on the property. ... There wasn't a clear indication if the flooding, in the residents' perspective, would stop or be lessened.”

Country Lakes has been considered a site for stormwater management in the past, beginning in 1999 when the DuPage Forest Preserve District began legal proceedings to try to buy the property. The preserve's plans over the years included using it to help with regional stormwater control and operating it for golf, but efforts to buy the course through a condemnation suit fell through after more than a dozen years.

Neighbors also had concerns about traffic and the effect of the potential development on nearby schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204. Roughly 80 of the homes will be targeted to people 55 and older, who are less likely to bring new students into the district, but Evans said the subdivision would bring an estimated 362 new students.

District 204 spokeswoman Janet Buglio said the majority of potential new students are expected at the elementary level. The nearest school is Longwood Elementary, which “does not have the capacity to handle the number of students the proposed subdivision would generate,” Buglio said. New students instead would be assigned to Steck Elementary at 460 Inverness Drive in Aurora.

Evans said Pulte has not yet informed city staff members about how it plans to proceed after the planning and zoning commission recommended denial, and a representative of the company did not return a call Friday.

The developer could choose to run its designs past the city council for potential approval or make amendments and come back before the commission.

“I hope they do come back with a revised version of it and have taken the suggestions of the commission,” Gustin said.