Winfield reaches deal with developer

Winfield will likely avoid having to go to court with a local developer who claimed village trustees tried to shut down his building project.

Siefert and Sons asked a DuPage County judge last May for an injunction on a one-year deadline the Winfield-area developer had to build seven $1 million homes in the Starcliff Court subdivision.

The company claimed the village delayed approvals for a variety of improvements on the site, which caused the company to lose three prospective home buyers. The company sought more than $50,000 to recoup lost profits from the delayed project.

Under the new agreement with owner Jerry Siefert, the company will agree to drop the suit when the village passes a resolution giving the company until June 2010 to build at least four of the seven homes. That extension is expected to be approved by the village board on March 20.

The company can also come back and request another extension if those homes aren't built by the deadline.

"I'm just glad we were able to bring this to a conclusion," Trustee Jack Bajor said.

Under the village's zoning codes, builders of planned development projects have a one-year deadline to complete a majority of their work.

Since the Starcliff project was first approved in March 2005, only two homes have been built on the property.

The company has filed for a permit to build a third home on the nearly 4-acre site, Village Manager William Barlow said.

Siefert couldn't be reached Thursday for comment.

The village's approval of the Starcliff Court development was a sore point for many residents living on the village's southwest side, who had fought the project from its inception.

Many of those residents helped form a community group that overthrew the project's supporters on the village board in the April 2005 election.