Lake Zurich negotiates on Rand property
A Route 12 property that has been a thorn on the side of Kildeer and Lake Zurich for years may be a step closer to being developed if both villages can come to some compromise on the plans and sharing sales tax revenue.
Village officials from the two towns met Thursday night to try.
The development is targeted for roughly 45 acres at the northeast corner of Cuba Road and Route 12. It would be anchored by a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse and a J.C. Penney department store and also include a couple of restaurants, a pharmacy and a shopping center. It would accommodate roughly 260,000 square feet of retail space.
The property backs up to Lake Zurich residents on the north and Kildeer homes on the east side.
Lake Zurich officials laid down all their concerns with the proposal, especially with the request for full access to the property from Old Rand Road, which they fear could exacerbate existing traffic problems.
"Reconfiguration of Old Rand Road is a major concern," Lake Zurich Trustee Craig Taylor said. "That is heavily traveled. It would probably be the primary entry into that shopping center."
Taylor asked whether Kildeer would accept shifting some of the traffic burden toward Cuba Road by allowing right-in, right-out access to the property.
But Kildeer has already considered that, Kildeer Village President Al Stefaniak said.
"Any access off of Cuba Road we've looked at 100 times," he said. "We'd have to make major changes on Cuba Road also. I don't think that is going to do much to ease the traffic. People are bound to take the right-in, right-out on Rand."
Kildeer village officials had previously said the developer's conceptual plan included the possibility of turning Cuba Road into a one-way street or a cul-de-sac just east of Route 12 with limited access to the state highway for area residents. That idea irked many residents, who packed a board meeting earlier in the month in protest. The idea has not been brought up since.
Lake Zurich officials said they would like to amend site plans so their residents won't be so close to the Lowe's and J.C. Penney structures.
"We feel this property is just way too close to our properties, even with a 100-foot setback," Lake Zurich Trustee Tom Poynton said. "We would like to see it developed a bit more equitably. This development is pushed more toward the Lake Zurich side than it is to the Kildeer side. Maybe we (can) find a better way to build this property."
Officials agreed the 100-foot setback is more than what either town currently requires for commercial developments along Rand Road. One of the concerns with the development is that the site contains a significant amount of wetlands that would have to be mitigated for development to occur.
The two villages also talked about revenue sharing beyond the 2013 expiration of an intergovernmental agreement restricting development on that property. Right now, both towns split the sales tax 50/50, but that could change.
Negotiations are expected to continue on the development of this and two other properties that lie on the boundary between both villages -- on the northwest and southwest corners of Quentin Road and Route 22. A commercial development is proposed for the southwest Quentin Road/Route 22 parcel that has been controversial with area residents.