Developer wants to build duplexes near Route 47 in Huntley. The village board isn’t thrilled.
Huntley Village Board members are lukewarm on a plan for duplexes along Route 47 near Talamore Boulevard and Ackman roads in the Talamore subdivision, with some hoping to see that area developed with commercial uses.
A few nearby residents also opposed the proposal last week at a village board meeting, citing increased traffic, Route 47 access, and crowding in the area, among other things.
Lennar, the developer behind Talamore, proposed building duplexes north and south of Ackman Road and Talamore Boulevard on long-vacant land. However, another property separates the Ackman Road and Talamore Boulevard sites.
Trustee Marilynn Berendt asked about the property between them, and Lennar representatives said they hadn’t approached the property owner.
John McFarland of Lennar said the company was trying to come up with some ideas to make the property productive, though he noted there was a lot of flexibility for the development of the site.
The developer proposed 126 duplexes on just over 48 acres. The duplexes would be approximately 1,500 to 1,800 square feet, with anticipated selling prices of $350,000 to $425,000.
The land is zoned commercial, and some on the village board said they would rather keep it open for potential retail use.
“If we allow this change to happen, that’s it," Trustee John Piwko said, adding Huntley would lose the chance to put anything else on the property.
However, the land has been vacant for 20 years. Some board members raised the concern that if the village held out for commercial use, it might take another 20 years for something to come along.
Trustee Ric Zydorowicz said the development could bring in property tax revenues and sales tax from purchases made by the new residents.
“Or this thing could just sit as vacant land, getting us nothing out of it,” Zydorowicz said.
Trustee Don Walz expressed concern about putting houses next to Route 47 and said there was a “balancing act” the village board has to do. He leaned more toward keeping it commercial.
Lennar officials also floated the idea of a single-family and active senior housing at the intersection of Main Street and Coyne Station Road.
That development would have 177 single-family homes, Huntley Director of Development Services Charlie Nordman told the village board. Eighty-eight would be “age-targeted” homes similar to ones in other parts of Talamore.
The land, which Lennar representatives said they were under contract to buy, is on the other side of railroad tracks from the existing Talamore development, but Huntley would have to annex it.
There also is land between the proposed subdivision and the railroad tracks. Officials said they are interested in annexing it and keeping it agricultural.