Links Farm development plan bogs down in Buffalo Grove

The plan to build more than 200 homes in Buffalo Grove on the 50-acre Link Farm property faces a delay as the result of the park district's decision to accept a land donation from the developer and negotiate with the village for right-of-way along Prairie Grove Park.

At an April 12 meeting attended by a crowd of concerned neighbors, the park district expressed its desire to acquire land from the developer and right-of-way from the village to expand Prairie Grove Park.

As a result, K. Hovnanian Homes, which plans to build the 214-unit Link Crossing community near Buffalo Grove Road and Brandywyn Lane, told Buffalo Grove planning and zoning commission members at another crowded meeting Wednesday that it will need to change its plan.

"Our first plan had park land in it," Lawrence Freedman, the attorney for the developer, said, adding it was eventually decided that the developer instead would improve the existing park.

"The park district said they would prefer having improvements made in the existing park, so we took the park out."

Now that the park district has opted to change direction, "we'll change our plan to meet that," he said.

He said the next step for the developer is to redo the plan to accomodate the park component and then take a look at the comments about density, traffic and the three-story units and see how they can be addressed.

Park District Executive Director Ryan Risinger said the decision was influenced by the desire of the development's potential neighbors for more park land. Another factor was the potential that the right-of-way that runs along the edge of the existing Prairie Grove Park could be used for a road running through the middle of the park.

"Our discussion with the village has been if that right-of-way could get conveyed over to the park district so that there wouldn't be any threat of a potential road going down the middle of the park sometime in the future, then the land donation would work and we would be able to double the size of the current park," he said.

The planning commission will hold another meeting on May 17.