Lake in the Hills apartment complex plan moves forward

A proposed 39-unit apartment complex in Lake in the Hills is moving forward despite objections from some residents.

The Parkside Apartments complex is targeted for about 2.8 acres along the east side of Haligus Road, across from Grafton Farm Drive.

The site, owned by Grafton Township, has been vacant for years and is under contract for purchase by the developer, Billitteri Enterprises, LLC. It would comprise three buildings, each three stories high with one- and two-bedroom units, and 93 parking spaces.

The village board later this month will review an ordinance for rezoning the land from open space district to multifamily district, a conditional use permit with some exceptions and a development plan for the project.

At recent meetings, some neighbors had objected to the project because of concerns over density, increased traffic, the apartments not being a good fit for that area, the safety of children walking to school, and an abundance of rental units in the market, said Dan Olson, village community development director.

“We did get about 20 emails from area residents opposing (it),” he added.

Yet, the decision was 4-2 to move forward with the project.

Crystal Lake developer Joe Billitteri has said a market study confirmed there is a deficit of apartments in the area. He said the project would serve the nearly 1,000 future employees of Centegra Hospital-Huntley — a 128-bed facility under construction — and the Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Center-Huntley at the corner of Algonquin and Haligus roads.

Lake in the Hills has other multifamily developments, such as The Villas of Lake in the Hills near village hall. That 60-unit complex on the south side of Harvest Gate also was pegged as an affordable housing project with rents ranging from $700 to nearly $1,000 monthly for one, two and three bedrooms.

A public hearing on amending the village's comprehensive plan to reflect the zoning change for the Parkside development is at 7 p.m. July 21 before the village board's committee of the whole meeting at village hall, 600 Harvest Gate. The site is designated as “parks/recreation” in the village's comprehensive plan.

At that meeting, officials also will consider whether to grant the developer's request for a $230,000 reduction in impact fees and permit costs for the project. The village board authorized staff to negotiate the amount of potential fee reductions, Olson said.

“This will all come back to the board for approval,” he added.