Village president defends Elburn Station proposal
Elburn Village President David Anderson is defending the village board’s decision last week to approve a revised concept plan for the proposed Elburn Station development — one that eliminates a large chunk of commercial use.
People who attended the board meeting, and some online commenters, have said the plan calls for too much housing, especially multifamily. They fear it will depress their own properties’ values and strain local governments’ resource.
Five trustees voted for the plan. Only Trustee Jeff Walter voted against it.
It is the second concept plan the village has approved for the site owned by Shodeen Inc., located between Route 38 and Keslinger Road, near Anderson Road. An initial plan in 2008 also contained property north of Route 38. That chunk was designated for commercial use.
The plan commission refused, by a 4-3 vote in October, to recommend the revised plan to the village board.
In the new plan, the number of housing units has been reduced by several hundred, but still remains at more than 2,000. Anderson said the density — the number of units per acre — has been reduced. The plan calls for multifamily housing — likely apartments — the closer you get to the Metra train station and Union Pacific rail yard.
“You’re not going to put half-million-dollar homes there,” he said.
He also disputed reports on blogs and newspaper comment boards that the village sold 440 acres of land near the station to the developer, Shodeen Inc., in 2005. Grove Elburn Partnership, the original developer, sold to Shodeen, according to a 2006 Daily Herald story. Property records on the Kane County Recorder of Deeds website do not show the village selling any land in that area. The website lists real estate transactions back to the early 1980s.
As for the project changing Elburn’s character, Anderson said that’s up to the people who end up moving to the village. “Small-town atmosphere is an attitude. It has nothing to do with size,” said Anderson, a lifelong resident of the Elburn area.
Another aspect residents, and at least one trustee, criticized was the plan’s relationship with getting the Anderson overpass built. Village officials have long sought an overpass over the railroad tracks, to serve as a bypass for Route 47, which has a grade-level crossing in the heart of the downtown.
Shodeen Inc. owns most of the land in the bypass’ right of way. Kane County is negotiating to purchase the right of way. Kane County Board member Cathy Hurlbut, chairman of the transportation committee, told the village board the county was in danger of losing $18 million in federal money earmarked for the bypass if the county doesn’t get the right of way soon.
Anderson said most of the engineering is done for the project, and piers for the crossing over the railroad tracks were built by Metra when the station and yard were built. Grading could be done this fall for bridge approaches, he said, and the rest done next year.
Approval of the concept plan is just the first step. Next is submitting an application for annexation and proposing a planned unit development agreement to the village. The plan commission would examine those, including conducting public hearings, before making a recommendation to the village board.