Naperville commission recommends residential subdivision for polo club
A Naperville commission is recommending the city council approve a plan to annex land at the Naperville Polo Club and develop it into a residential subdivision.
A representative from Pulte Home Co. detailed the proposal at Wednesday's planning and zoning commission meeting to build 252 single-family houses and 149 townhouses on the property located at the northeast corner of 119th Street and Route 59.
As part of the project, Naperville officials would need to annex the parcel that's currently in unincorporated Will County.
Despite concerns from nearby residents about home density and added congestion on 119th Street, commissioners unanimously recommended the plan to the city council.
"I think we've done, at this point in time, just about everything we could possibly do to put the best possible plan for Polo Club before you," Russell Whitaker, the attorney representing Pulte, told the commissioners.
The proposal includes 38% of open space, land donated to the Naperville Park District, two multipurpose athletic fields and a stormwater management area donated to Will County Forest Preserve District, according to Whitaker.
Pulte would build four different home styles at differing price points, including a percentage of affordable housing dedicated to households earning $100,000 to $125,000 a year. Those homes would cost $352,000 to $440,000.
The homes would have four parking spaces apiece and a variance from the city to allow smaller lot sizes. Residents would feed into Plainfield School District 202.
Whitaker talked to the commission about a past development plan for the Naperville Polo Club that was rejected by the city. The difference with the Pulte proposal, he said, is it's less dense - 401 units compared to 780 - and Pulte aims to reduce the effect of increased traffic in the area.
While Whitaker acknowledged nothing immediately can be done on parts of 119th Street under numerous jurisdictions, he said Pulte would add turn lanes at certain points to ease congestion. Whitaker also said Pulte is prepared to contribute $300,000 to a study of improvements at the intersection of 119th Street and Route 59.
Whitaker said Pulte would like to begin home sales in 2024 and complete the project by 2030. The land currently is being leased by a local soccer club.
"As we began working on this project, (the previous proposal rejection) was really our starting point," Whitaker said. "We leaned into a review of what went wrong in the past and really tried to understand the issues."