Mundelein annexes land for future housing development

Mundelein trustees have annexed more land on the village’s northwest side ahead of another proposed housing development.

Georgia-based PulteGroup wants to construct 155 houses on 80 acres near the southwest corner of Route 83 and Winchester Road. If the plans come to fruition, the development will be called Walnut Ridge.

Preliminary site work could start this winter, Village Administrator Eric Guenther said Tuesday, and home construction is expected to begin in spring 2026.

In a series of votes Monday, the village board annexed those 80 acres as well as 167 adjoining acres that were needed to make the proposed development site contiguous to village property. That’s a legal requirement for annexation.

The land had been in an unincorporated area of Lake County. It’s south of Mundelein’s border with Grayslake and east of the land reserved for the massive Ivanhoe Village residential and commercial development.

Ivanhoe Village has been a source of controversy in town. Mundelein High School District 120 and Fremont School District 79 representatives have insisted the fees the developer, Wirtz Realty, will pay to accommodate future enrollment increases aren’t large enough.

The superintendents of those two districts expressed similar concerns Monday night about the Walnut Ridge proposal. They — and representatives of Diamond Lake School District 76 and Vernon Hills-based Hawthorn School District 73 — specifically objected to an impact-fee formula the village board enacted in April.

The new formula “dramatically reduces the developer’s fair share,” District 79 Superintendent Trisha Kocanda said as she read a letter to the board from the allied school district officials. The shortage is pushing school leaders to increase taxes, reduce programs and increase class sizes, Kocanda said.

Continuing the letter, District 120 Superintendent Corey Tafoya urged village officials to revise the formula with input from education officials; get input from affected school districts on future annexation and zoning proposals; and form a committee with representatives from area government agencies to develop a long-term growth plan for the community.

“We stand ready to partner with you to develop these equitable and suitable and sustainable solutions,” Tafoya said.

There was no immediate response from village board members. Later, Trustee Tony Ugaste said the decision to support the annexation wasn’t easy for any of the board members. But rejecting the proposal could’ve led to another town annexing the property and deciding what’s built there, he said.

Trustee Kara Lambert spoke next, saying the proposed development isn’t “responsible growth.” She later told the Daily Herald she’s worried about long-term road and sewer maintenance costs of developments like this.

When it came time to vote on the annexation agreements and other aspects of the plan, the measures passed 5-1. Lambert was the lone objector every time.