Barrington board OKs townhouses despite neighbors' protests

Over the protests of neighborhood residents, the Barrington village board unanimously approved a 16-unit townhouse development in the Roslyn Road area.

Before the vote, residents went to the podium to express their opposition to the project, citing fears it would increase traffic and irrevocably harm their neighborhood's character.

The six-building development will be built on vacant land at the southwest corner of West Roslyn Road and North Cumnor Avenue that is adjacent to the GE Healthcare center at 540 Northwest Highway.

Resident Laura Nadelhoffer said the development would change the neighborhood, which is predominantly made up of single-family homes.

“We're not opposed to developing the land; we prefer to keep it consistent with the comprehensive plan and neighborhood feel throughout,” Nadelhoffer said.

While residents feared the townhouses would ruin their neighborhood, many board members said they voted for the plan because of what could happen if the residential development weren't built.

The eastern half of the vacant lot, which is along Cumnor Avenue, is zoned residential, but the western half is zoned for industrial use.

Board member Jim Daluga said if the board hadn't approved this plan, developers would have had the option to build a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing building on the western half.

The plan has been a long time coming. The first meeting between the developer, ILM Homes Inc., and neighborhood residents was in May 2016, and the two sides meet several more times at plan commission meetings and even at special compromise sessions held in August 2016 and January 2017.

Jodie Nettlehorst, who lead the neighborhood's effort against the plan, said despite all the meetings, she felt the developer brushed off their concerns.

Before the dejected residents began leaving the meeting, Village President Karen Darch told them they did have an influence on the process because the plan was reduced from 21 units to 16.