Sugar Grove cuts fees to spur housing construction

Sugar Grove agreed to give homebuilders a bit of a break Tuesday, agreeing to rebates on impact fees and cutting out transition fees.

The deal is good for the first 35 homes to take advantage. The builders must obtain a construction permit by Oct. 29, 2010, and an occupancy permit by Oct. 31, 2011.

Village leaders hope it will stimulate construction.

The village will rebate up to 50 percent of its impact fees, up to $5,000. It eliminated transition fees, which are intended to help pay for some services in the time between when the property is added to the tax roll and the first taxes are collected, which can take a year or more.

Sugar Grove has issued no residential building permits in the fiscal year that began May 1, and five the year before that. During a booming housing market in the 1990s and early 2000s, Sugar Grove was issuing 300 or more building permits a year, and expected to issue a record 550-plus in 2007-08.

The move was requested by the Windham Group, the developers of the 267-unit Prairie Glen subdivision. A village memo showed that, based on the type and size of homes proposed, the developer would have had to pay an average of $14,000 per unit to the village for impact on sewers, streets and police services, among other things.

A check of its Web site Wednesday showed several already-built homes for sale at "builder's price" discounts of up to 18 percent.