Round Lake townhouse plan heads for new meeting, same opposition

Detractors of a plan for 249 town houses in southern Round Lake are geared up for another opportunity to say why it's a bad idea at a public meeting next week.

Members of Round Lake's advisory plan commission/zoning board of appeals once again will examine the proposal from NBG Land Partners at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The session will be at village hall, 442 N. Cedar Lake Road.

NBG intends to construct the 249 townhouses near Route 60 and Fairfield Road. The 120 acres for the project would be brought within Round Lake's boundaries through annexation.

Fremont Township resident Michael Kamins is part of an organized effort to thwart the town homes. Kamins is among the opponents who live on Chardon Lane in unincorporated Lake County near the proposed homes.

Kamins said roughly 200 signatures have been gathered on a petition against the townhouses since the paperwork was first circulated last week. He said opponents being encouraged to attend Tuesday's meeting also are now coming from the Lakewood Grove subdivision in Round Lake, not just in Fremont Township outside village boundaries.

Opponents contend the 249 townhouses would lead to increased traffic, destruction of wetlands and a reduction in property values.

Kamins said the plan has become of concern to some residents at the Lakewood Grove subdivision near Route 60 and Cedar Lake Road, not far from where the town homes would rise.

"There are so many foreclosures there (at Lakewood Grove) and so many for sale," Kamins said, "they're saying, 'Why are they building more?' "

Marc Neuerman, managing member of Rosemont-based NBG Land Partners, said Friday the construction of the townhouses won't have an effect on residents seeking to sell their homes at Lakewood Grove. He said Lakewood Grove's single-family homes are a different product from what his company would offer.

Of the 120 acres for the planned development, about 75 acres would remain open space and wetlands. Unlike what the residents claim, Neuerman said, the project wouldn't ruin the wetlands because strict Army Corps of Engineers standards must be followed.

If the plan commission/zoning board of appeals votes on the 249 town homes at Tuesday's meeting, the proposal will go to the Round Lake village board, which gets the final say on all issues.

More than 50 spectators jammed Round Lake village hall's chambers the last time the town homes were up for discussion in October.