Subdivision with townhouses, single-family houses proposed in Algonquin

Developers want to build a subdivision with 99 single-family homes and 150 townhouses near Westfield Community School in Algonquin.

Home building company Lennar is looking to transform an empty plot of land about 80 acres in size into a new subdivision called Algonquin Meadows. The property is north of Longmeadow Parkway, west of Westfield Community School, south of the Willoughby Farms subdivision and east of Randall Road.

The Algonquin Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended the plan on Monday. The Algonquin Village Board will have the final say on the matter at a future meeting not yet determined, Algonquin Deputy Community Development Director Patrick Knapp said.

The homes would have three models with prairie, craftsman and modern farmhouse styles, Lennar representative John McFarland said. The townhouses and single-family homes would all be for sale in a price range of $375,000 to $650,000.

Developers plan to have the property be 33% open space, including four “naturalized” stormwater basins and a 100-foot-wide “conservation corridor” to the west, McFarland said. The stormwater basins will have native plants that can soak up excess water because of their long root systems, Algonquin village engineer Clifton Ganek said. The conservation corridor will consist of open fields and trees to act as a protective buffer for the nearby wetlands, Knapp said.

Developers have requested approval for a preliminary planned development and a zoning change.

McFarland said all the homes would have a basement, two-car garage and three to four bedrooms. The townhouses would have a private patio or balcony.

Developers do not have a community park in the plan, but the village requested Lennar pay a fee to support the nearby Willoughby Farms Park, Knapp said.

Some nearby residents on Monday raised concerns about increased traffic and lack of open space. Algonquin resident Patricia Levinson said a park is needed for the young families coming into that community, and Willoughby Farms Park cannot be made larger.

Algonquin resident David Rodriguez said, “Something this big should have a community park.”

Commissioner John Kennealy questioned whether a traffic light should be placed on Longmeadow Parkway and the new extension of Stonegate Road.

Ganek said a traffic study concluded the project would not create a significant impact on local traffic, Ganek said.

“There would need to be something like four or five times … the amount of traffic presented in the traffic study to actually trigger a traffic signal,” Ganek said.

Developers are also working directly with Community Community Unit District 300’s Westfield Community School to create a connecting private access road, Knapp said.

Developers will next discuss the project at Algonquin’s Committee of a Whole at the earliest on May 14, but nothing is finalized yet, Knapp said. At the earliest, construction could potentially start by this fall, McFarland said.