New homes, trails for 'neglected' Naperville golf course
A new neighborhood of 303 houses is coming to the northwest side of Naperville despite neighbors' concerns about flooding, loss of open space and increased traffic.
City council members approved Pulte Home Corp. of Schaumburg's plans to build a subdivision called Atwater on the site of the Country Lakes golf course near Route 59 and Diehl Road.
The neighborhood will include 77 ranch-style homes targeted toward people 55 and older, 110 acres of open space, two new parks totaling 7.3 additional acres and a 3.8-mile trail network that will be accessible by the public.
Atwater will take a "neglected" golf course and turn it into houses with starting prices between $400,000 and $600,000, said Kathy West, an attorney representing Pulte.
"These elements of the Atwater development will significantly enhance this area," West said.
Those who support the plan said it provides more than double the 51 acres of open space that is required for a 204-acre development.
"I welcome this sort of development for a couple of different reasons," council member Judith Brodhead said. "There certainly are different kinds of open space. A golf course is one. It can be very attractive, but is not as usable as other kinds of open space with amenities."
Nearby homeowner Jennifer Ganser agreed.
"The golf course is not open space for me to run in and bike in," Ganser said. "It's not a space that children should be playing in; it's not a park."
Opponents said planning documents approved in 1978 when the Country Lakes area first was developed call for the golf course to remain open space - for good.
"I think it's very clear from these documents the intent at the time was that golf course was always going to be open space," said council member Kevin Gallaher, who voted against the subdivision.
City planners and attorneys had a different reading. They said as long as each subdivision within the Country Lakes area meets open space requirements based on its size, the golf course does not have to remain open land.
Areas that can be counted as open space include wetlands and ponds, and Atwater will preserve several such natural features, West said. A conservation easement, a legal agreement that promises the land will be preserved, will be formed between Pulte and the Conservation Foundation to formalize the developer's commitment to open space.
But nearby residents said they fear the loss of the 155-acre golf course will have negative consequences when storms hit. Some area streets and homes already flood, but the golf course helped soak up excess rain, said Pamela Peterson, who lives in the Longwood neighborhood east of the Atwater site.
"What happens when all of this is covered with houses, patios, driveways and sidewalks?" Peterson said.
Bill Novack, the city's director of transportation, engineering and development, said his department approved Pulte's plans that show the subdivision will provide more stormwater storage capacity than DuPage County requires.
Country Lakes has been considered a site for stormwater management in the past, beginning in 1999 when the DuPage Forest Preserve District began legal proceedings to try to buy the property. The preserve's plans over the years included using the site to help with regional stormwater control and operating it for golf, but efforts to buy the course through a condemnation suit fell through after more than a dozen years.
After Tuesday's city council approval, Pulte will build Atwater in two phases, with the northern portion closer to Diehl Road constructed before the southern section closer to North Aurora Road.
A traffic signal will be added at Country Club Boulevard and Diehl and the subdivision also includes a new street connecting to Shore Road on the west side of the development.
Three of the four documents needed to allow the subdivision were approved by a 7-2 vote, with Gallaher and council member Kevin Coyne dissenting.
Coyne voted against Atwater in April when he was a member of the planning and zoning commission, but on Tuesday, he voted in favor of the fourth document, which establishes a preliminary plat for the subdivision.
Coyne called the plat a "technicality," and said he opposes the subdivision because it is too dense.
"I don't think they have the road infrastructure to support that sizable development," he said.