Hoffman Estates to consider 81 new homes Monday

Hoffman Estates village board members Monday will consider approval of an 81-home subdivision on 37 acres at the northwest corner of Algonquin and Ela roads.

The former farm property was long owned by the Bergman family, who only recently began marketing it for development, Hoffman Estates Assistant Village Manager for Development Services Mark Koplin said.

While Koplin couldn't immediately remember when the village would have last considered a residential development of comparable size, he said it would certainly have been before the recession and collapse of the housing market in 2008.

The proposal was filed by the listed owner of the land, Highland Dairy Farm LLC, as well as the contract purchaser, M/I Homes of Chicago LLC.

At a courtesy review before the village board several months ago, the proposal included a mixture of 59 single-family homes and 76 rowhome units, Koplin said. But following critiques by both village officials and members of the public, the multifamily rowhomes were eliminated and the overall density reduced.

Mayor Bill McLeod said his understanding is that increased traffic in the area leads the lingering concerns of nearby neighbors about the development, but it is an issue village staff has looked into.

That neighbors would want an empty field to remain an empty field is understandable, McLeod said, though the reality is that Hoffman Estates is already a developed urban area.

One of the things neighbors asked for that can't be done is to assign a new traffic signal to the entrance of the proposed subdivision, McLeod said.

The final version of the proposal received an 8-0 recommendation from the Hoffman Estates Planning and Zoning Commission at a recent hearing at which three members were absent.