Discounts could be coming to 'smart' developers in Kane County

Kane County officials will consider a $1.3 million discount in fees for Geneva-based developer Shodeen Group LLC in recognition of efforts to shrink the increased traffic that will result from the Elburn Station subdivision.

Shodeen's project will encompass some 500 acres stretching across both sides of Anderson Road near the Metra station. The subdivision will include more than 2,000 residential units ranging from single-family homes to condos and apartments. There is also more than 120,000 square feet of retail planned for the project, all subject to Kane County impact fees. It will take 20 years to build.

Impact fees help fund the need for enhancements and increased maintenance on local roads and bridges caused by new development projects. But Shodeen asked the county for a break on the fees for designing a project that is high-density but walkable and near public transportation.

"We are giving them credit for helping keep people off the roads," said Drew Frasz, chairman of the county board's transportation committee on Tuesday. "We are giving them credit to do smart growth. We have been asking developers to do this."

The committee gave preliminary approval to discounts on impact fees of as much as 70 percent in some areas of the project. Kane County Department of Transportation Deputy Director Tom Rickert said the discounts are "substantial," but he added high-density developments like Elburn Station are what the county needs to support public transportation in the area.

"While we do have transit going up and down Randall Road, it's not yet sustainable," Rickert said. "We need to get the density to the point where it starts to pay for itself. Kane County is a long way away from having sustainable developments for transportation."

Shodeen still will pay the county at least $780,000 in impact fees. But the county is poised to forgive $1.29 million that would have been due without the discounts.

Shodeen isn't the only developer in line for financial help from the county.

Gilberts-based Interstate Partners LLC also received preliminary approval Tuesday for a 60 percent discount on the impact fees it owes the county for a project off Randall Road in Elgin. The development, called Watermark at The Grove, is part of the NorthWest Corporate Park project that got off the ground in 1996. The Watermark is a 282-unit rental housing community with five buildings. The impact fees due to the county totaled $292,535. But a 60 percent discount would shrink that bill to $117,814.