Elgin says yes to revamped plans for Rolling Knolls subdivision
A drop in the number of townhomes and the promise of a new park helped pave the way for a 56-acre golf course on Elgin's far east side to be redeveloped.
Elgin City Council members Wednesday night voted 6-0 in favor of the Hidden Creek at Rolling Knolls subdivision.
Mayor Ed Schock said a lot of the problems neighbors complained about - traffic, possible flooding, open space and school crowding - existed before Hidden Creek was proposed. He noted the city imposes "significant" impact fees on developments while earlier subdivisions did not have this requirement from Cook County.
"I'm sure 132 more homes is not going to break the camel's back. The straw got out of the barn long ago," he said, adding, "This is a flaw in the system. It's not anybody in the room's fault."
In August, the city's plan commission, which reviews new construction plans, gave a thumbs-down to the project.
At the time, the plan contained 82 single family homes and 68 townhomes and the advisory board said the project tried to cram too much on too little land at the southwest corner of Bode and Rohrssen roads.
In response, FourFathers Development eliminated 28 townhomes along Rohrssen Road and replaced them with single-family homes. Overall, the updated plan had 92 single-family homes and 40 townhomes.
FourFathers also agreed to give 3 acres on the subdivision's eastern edge to the city for a neighborhood park and widen nearby roads. A lack of a park was another reason Elgin's plan commission voted against the plan.
Neighbors near the property, particularly the Chapel Creek subdivision, opposed the plan for several reasons. They included a lack of a traffic impact study, which the city later required; concerns about water runoff and flooding; an improper balance between single-family and townhomes; and a housing market already glutted with homes.
"We would like to see Elgin reinvest in us by denying this development as presented and rather seek a more suitable, more compatible, and more desirable high value, single-family solution," said Paul Halverson, who presented a petition signed by 324 Chapel Creek residents.