Barrington Hills, Duda closer to deal on subdivision plan

Barrington Hills leaders and representatives of their longtime nemesis, the Fritz Duda Co., are inching closer to a deal that would end nearly eight years of bitter fighting over the development of hundreds of acres along the village's border with Algonquin.

The two sides met Tuesday along with McHenry County Board Chairman Ken Koehler to continue hammering out an agreement that would allow developers to build homes on the open land near Spring Creek and Haeger's Bend roads within the guidelines of Barrington Hills' comprehensive plan.

"I think the discussions generally have been going well," Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud said. "These issues are moving closer to a resolution."

Representatives of Duda, which owns the land, and their development partners confirmed the discussions Tuesday but declined comment on the specifics.

A deal would end years of wrangling between the two sides dating back to 2001 when village trustees first rejected Duda's proposal to build a 350-home subdivision surrounding a golf course.

Since then Duda successfully has sued the village twice to de-annex its property, in all removing about 475 acres from the village, leaving it unincorporated McHenry County land that falls under the aegis of the county board. However, the Dallas-based developer was rebuffed by county zoning officials when it proposed a 371-home subdivision on 368 acres of recently de-annexed land.

That rejection, along with some cajoling by county officials, led the two sides back to the negotiation table.

Officials offered few details Tuesday of the current negotiations, but Abboud said the talks involve returning most of the Duda property back to Barrington Hills and placing the rest within the village of Algonquin.

That would permit Duda and its partners to build some higher density housing in Algonquin and provide it with village sewer and water, while also abiding by Barrington Hills' insistence on larger lot sizes within its town borders. None of the property would remain unincorporated.

"Both the villages of Barrington Hills and Algonquin agree it doesn't make sense for any part of the property to be in unincorporated McHenry County," said Abboud, who praised Algonquin officials for their efforts toward a deal.

Koehler, who brought the two sides together last year and has conducted eight to 10 negotiating sessions since, said he is optimistic an agreement could be close at hand.

"Hopefully we'll have a wonderful conclusion in the very near future," he said. "If it goes through, it will be a very interesting solution."