Developer pays fine of $25,000 to village

A developer that removed hundreds of trees without approval has agreed to pay Carpentersville $25,000 in compensation, even though the felled trees are considered "invasive."

The money will fund the village's parkway tree replacement program, a village initiative to replace or plant new trees on public land throughout town.

Early last year, Elgin-based Pulte Homes chopped down about 250 black cherry and box elder trees in a preservation area within the Winchester Glen subdivision on the village's west side.

Though Pulte received permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Kane County Department of Environmental Management to remove the invasive species, the developer failed to consult the village.

"The fact of the matter is they didn't comply with our ordinance," Village Manager Craig Anderson said. "We couldn't just ignore it. We had to take some sanctions against Pulte."

A Pulte representative could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Initially, the village asked for $35,000, but the developer rebuffed the settlement, Village Engineer Scott Marquardt said.

Under the village's tree preservation ordinance, the developer could have faced a fine of up to $500,000.

But Anderson and Marquardt said the stiffer penalty was unrealistic since the developer essentially did the village and homeowner's association a favor.

Marquardt said if Pulte had not removed the trees, the homeowner's association would have been responsible for the work. The invasive species threatened a number of high quality oak trees in the area.

That project would have cost the association $40,000, Marquardt said in a memo to the village board.

"The intent of what they did was to improve the quality of the area," Marquardt said. "They did not remove high quality stuff. If they had come to the village with a permit request, we would have agreed."

None of the trees removed from the subdivision will be replaced. Rather, the money will boost the village's tree replacement program.

"There are numerous areas where trees have died and never replaced or have been removed and never replaced," Anderson said. "There are also areas that don't have parkway trees and ultimately we want to plant trees in those areas. The money allows the village to do that."