Naperville subdivision could come with conservation plan
A proposed subdivision that could bring 303 houses to the site of the Country Lakes golf course in Naperville is up for city council consideration with one new element designed to lessen fears about the loss of open space and potential for increased flooding.
The Atwater subdivision proposed by Pulte Home Corp. of Schaumburg will be discussed during a council meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The new addition is a conservation easement, a legal agreement the developer and the Naperville-based Conservation Foundation could approve to ensure the open space planned with the houses will remain undeveloped and well-maintained.
"A conservation easement is a tool to preserve land into perpetuity," said Brook McDonald, president and CEO of the Conservation Foundation. "The goal of a conservation easement is to preserve the land ... and the open space value of the land."
The Atwater subdivision is proposed to occupy 204 acres west of Route 59 between Diehl Road and North Aurora Road. Naperville's code requires 25 percent of that land - or 51 acres - to remain open space. With 110 acres designed to be left open and an additional 7.3 acres planned as two public parks, Atwater meets the requirement and then some, city planners say.
The open space would include paths and sidewalks connecting to the Illinois Prairie Path on the north side of the site, as well as preservation of wetlands and restoration of much of the golf course into natural prairie.
But plans call for less open land than the golf course, which takes up about 155 acres. That concerns some neighbors, who have said they worry the development could increase flooding.
In a memo, Community Planner Kasey Evans said one way Pulte has responded to those concerns is by working with the Conservation Foundation to ensure the ecology of the open space will be properly maintained so it can handle stormwater.
"We've all seen examples where poor development has led to more flooding and worse drainage situations," McDonald said. "We've been involved in enough development scenarios that we've seen, with proper engineering and proper placement and management of open space, these problems can be significantly improved. We're confident that this is one of those examples ... We wouldn't be involved if we thought it was going to make things worse."
The conservation easement has not been approved, but if the city council grants permission to build the homes, Pulte and the Conservation Foundation could move to formalize it, McDonald said.
Another new addition since the planning and zoning commission recommended approval of the subdivision in April is creation of a special service area that the city could use to tax future residents of the subdivision if the open space, sidewalks or trails are not maintained.
If the Atwater subdivision is approved, it would be built in two phases, with the northern portion closer to Diehl Road going in first. The development originally was proposed to have 327 homes, but planners rejected that plan as too dense.