Gated community wants to scale back amenities

Maison Du Comte bills itself as a private, gated community in Palatine.

That's true - in the technical sense, at least.

Though nearly all of the 68 luxury townhouses by Harper College were sold long ago, the gates aren't operational. Neither is the video surveillance system. And there's no sign of the walking path, foot bridge or brick perimeter wall.

If the developer gets his way, many of the amenities promised during the sales pitch won't come to be. Inverness-based Inverland Russell Co. owner Russell McElwain is asking Palatine officials to approve changes to the planned development agreement passed in 2002. The council is set to vote on Monday.

"We're tired of the empty promises," said Debbie Swierczek, who moved to the subdivision with her husband more than two years ago. "It shouldn't be this difficult to get these projects completed."

She and around 60 other property owners have signed a petition asking that village officials "compel" McElwain to finish work in Maison Du Comte, where most of the townhouses sold between $600,000 and $800,000.

Security is a top concern of Swierczek and the nine other property owners who hired a lawyer last year. In a letter to the village, they wrote the solid brick perimeter fence in the original plan would provide additional security. They also want the gates and surveillance system made operational. They blamed a lack of adequate security for a "brazen midday burglary" at one of their homes last October.

McElwain, a longtime Palatine resident, responded that the fence would come at the expense of a long line of mature trees straddling the property line shared with Little City. Openings exist throughout the subdivision, he added, minimizing the security benefit of the fence.

"The design never called for high-security," he said.

The entry gates work, but McElwain said he has had difficulty getting a resident to take responsibility for managing the gate if it malfunctions. "We have to have a point person for that," he said.

McElwain has support of his own. More than 15 homeowners back his plan to instead build a wrought-iron fence with brick columns and to waive $400,000 in outstanding management costs homeowners otherwise would pay.

Swierczek's group also is asking for control of the homeowners association. McElwain said he's continued overseeing it because the subdivision shares roads with Phase II of the Maison Du Comte development, where 16 of the planned 38 units are under construction.

As for scratching the walking path, McElwain said a resident poll showed a majority didn't want a concrete trail running through their backyards.

"Our reputation is that of the highest quality," McElwain said. "I've worked too long and too hard to put up with libelous accusations."