Neighbors speak against proposed Geneva duplex plan
Geneva aldermen are willing to designate the former Geneva Greenhouse property on Western Avenue for attached housing, such as duplexes, in the city's comprehensive land-use plan.
But when it comes to rezoning the site - the second step necessary to building Geneva Meadows - aldermen want guarantees that only two-unit buildings will be constructed, not three-unit buildings.
K. Hovnanian Homes of Wauconda proposes to build 32 duplexes on the 7 acres along Western Avenue, across from Country Squire Drive.
Residents of nearby neighborhoods spoke against changing the land-use plan, changing the zoning and the specific plans the developer has.
The business closed in 2006, and the greenhouses were torn down several years later.
R-1 zoning calls for single-family detached houses on lots of at least 13,000 square feet. R-6 allows two and three units, with a minimum of 3,250 square feet of land per dwelling unit.
Hovnanian is not asking to build a planned unit development. So if it decides to build three units after all, it could without having to get city council approval, as long as it met other city laws about height, density and stormwater.
Four aldermen voted against changing the comprehensive land-use plan.
The committee will continue discussing the rezoning, and the specifics of the design, at a special committee meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 15.