Public hearing on South Barrington church plan to continue later this month

A public hearing about a proposal to build a church and school in South Barrington will continue later this month.

Schaumburg-based Fourth Avenue Gospel, a group owned and operated by a suburban congregation of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, wants to develop a 34-acre site at Bartlett Road and Route 59.

Fourth Avenue bought the property — often called Area N — from the South Barrington Park District at auction earlier this year for $2.3 million.

Many area residents publicly opposed Fourth Avenue’s plan and some sued to stop it. But on Thursday the plaintiffs told a Cook County judge they want to drop the case.

The parties will be back in court Sept. 5.

To build a church and school, Fourth Avenue needs the village board to amend a development plan for the land — and that first requires a public hearing before the plan commission. That hearing began Friday night and will resume at 7 p.m. Aug. 26, an attorney for the village said.