Arlington Hts. trustees OK townhouse plan

Pulte Homes' plans for townhouses at Arlington Market gained approval Monday night from the Arlington Heights Village Board.

The national homebuilder plans to construct 66 row houses on just more than 5 acres.

The company also agreed to remove construction debris a previous developer left on another 7 acres of land currently designated for single-family homes; Pulte also will grade and seed that property.

The land development should be far enough along to allow for seeding within 90 days after permits are obtained, said Mark Mastrorocco, Pulte's land acquisition manager. The trustees set a deadline of Sept. 15.

Pulte is studying what type of housing the market would support there.

The company agreed to several requests the board made two weeks earlier, including keeping the streets private because they will be 22 feet wide, not the 35 feet required by the village when it takes responsibility for streets.

Pulte also agreed to build 26 guest parking spaces in two areas. Each home also will have two spaces in its driveway behind its garage.

Bert Rosenberg was the only trustee to vote against the plans, saying he wished the developer would add a 6- or 7-foot wide strip of land to the project so streets could be wide enough to allow parking.

The interior units will have 1,464 square feet with base prices in the mid-$200,000 range. End units will be 1,736 square feet with prices starting in the upper $200,000s, Mastrorocco said.

The village is eager to get improvements made at Kensington Street and Dryden Place, where most of the old Arlington Market's commercial buildings were demolished in 2007 after a previous housing project was approved, but never built.

Neighbors have complained about the eyesore that trustees label "ground zero."

Pulte is not involved in the part of the property that remains designated for commercial development.