Pulte pulls plug on controversial Naperville Ridge housing project

A controversial development calling for 94 duplexes to be built on 32 acres of heavily wooded land near Naperville will not move forward.

The Naperville City Council was slated to vote on Naperville Ridge Tuesday night, but Pulte Homes pulled the plug on the project several hours before the meeting’s start.

“We value the longstanding partnership with the city of Naperville and are proud of what we have accomplished together,” Russ Whitaker, project attorney for Pulte, wrote in a letter to the city. “While we are disappointed that Naperville Ridge will not move forward as planned, we will continue to deliver much needed new home supply at current and future communities.”

Whitaker declined to comment for this story.

For months, the housing project proposed for a site near 75th Street and Gladstone Drive received significant backlash from Naperville area residents. Many expressed concerns over its environmental impacts.

An online opposition petition garnered more than 3,600 signatures, and 80 people submitted position statements to the council against its approval.

“The problem was not simply the removal of 850 trees,” Naperville resident Marilyn Schweitzer said. “The problem was the significant reduction and disturbance of ecosystems, PUD deviations driven primarily by the proposed density and a lack of overall community benefit.”

If the development was approved, it would have required annexation into the city, rezoning to an R2 district for low-density, multifamily housing and a conditional use to allow it to be processed as a planned unit development.

Pulte was also requesting permission to build an 8-foot-tall fence along the east property line — when six feet is the typical height limit — and to plant fewer parkway trees than required by code.

The property has two wetlands and more than 2,000 trees. As part of the development, Pulte had planned to preserve both wetlands and save about 1,300 trees, with 55% of the site remaining as open space. A separate organization would have been enlisted to help maintain the open space, with the efforts funded by a homeowners association.

What the future entails now for the 32 acre property is unclear. The DuPage Water Commission, which has deemed the land as surplus, had planned to sell it to Pulte for $14 million.

DuPage Water Commission Chair Jim Zay said Tuesday night that the commission’s contract with Pulte runs until November. He does not know what the company’s future intentions are, he said.

Rita Treonis, who had been speaking out against the development for months, was surprised to hear Tuesday afternoon that the proposal was withdrawn. She remains “cautiously optimistic” that a better use for the property would be found, she said.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens next,” she said. “This is an important step, and hopefully opens doors for a more conservation-minded opportunity.”

She said she would love to see the DuPage Water Commission and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County work together to protect the site.

Forest Preserve District Board President Daniel Hebreard previously wrote that he was supportive of the property remaining as open space. However, since there were no discussions between the DuPage Water Commission and the forest preserve district about the property, he said he was not supportive of the forest preserve district acquiring it.

Hebreard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Pulte has deep pockets and great lawyers,” Treonis said. “But the people and the trees here have deep roots. … As we await what happens next, the overwhelming majority are looking for a conservation-minded solution and stewardship that will preserve this pre-settlement forest.”

cstein@chicagotribune.com