Green development approved near Hampshire

A housing development planned near the border of Hampshire and Burlington in unincorporated Kane County will take the concept of green living beyond energy efficient light bulbs and rain barrels.

California-based developer John DeWald and Associates has received final zoning approval from the Kane County Board for Serosun Farms, a 410-acre conservation community that reinvents the rural lifestyle on the suburban fringe.

The development falls under a new county zoning code allowing limited development on a property while permanently protecting the remaining land for agriculture and open space.

More than 300 acres - or 75 percent of the property - is designated open space, preserved farm and restored prairie, said John DeWald, principal for John DeWald and Associates. The 114 estate homes on one-acre plots will sit among an equestrian center, walking trails, fishing ponds and an organic farm. Sustainable elements of the community listed on the development's Web site include using wind and solar energy, waste recycling and reuse through composting and mulching, soil and water conservation, as well as organic farming practices that will provide food products for the community.

"Concepts like this can be used to preserve rural areas where the suburban edges are starting to spread out into the farmland," DeWald said. "Our development is in an area that as Hampshire, Burlington and Pingree Grove continue to grow, there will still be a rural area between them so you will be able to tell when you are leaving one town and entering another."

While homebuilders across the country are struggling to fill houses and condominiums in subdivisions, Serosun Farms already is attracting interest even before the first model homes are completed, DeWald said.

"We are building a community as opposed to just building homes," he said. "People are coming out of this downturn looking for a lifestyle and we offer something unique ... When things get tough, it is the unique project that gets the attention and gets buyers."

The idea for a sustainable community surfaced about eight years ago when DeWald's sister, Jane Stickland, bought a property and started an equestrian farm. She soon realized the suburbs were rapidly approaching and did not want a high density subdivision across the street, DeWald said.

"The options were either move farther west or develop with a much smaller density," DeWald said.

The development lies within Kane County Board member Robert Kudlicki's District 25, which covers the townships of Hampshire, Rutland, Burlington, Plato and Virgil. Kudlicki said the developer and board have worked for more than two years to refine the project, which is the first under the county's 2030 Plan promoting agricultural preservation and local farming at the suburban edge.

"This is a different concept, but it fits in with our living style and the agricultural area that we are," said Kudlicki, of Hampshire.

DeWald said final plat approval and engineering plans are expected this winter, with work on the development starting next spring.