Developer a no-show at Island Lake hearing

The Island Lake village board will have to wait for specifics about a proposed new subdivision after the developer failed to show at a public hearing Thursday night.

The board agreed to continue the hearing on the proposed Hillside Estates subdivision to 7 p.m. Dec. 6.

It was unclear why the developer was not present, but village attorney Scott Puma said he was fairly certain there must have been confusion about the date or an emergency on the developer's part.

"I don't think he would knowingly miss a meeting," Puma said. Trustees agreed that was not likely.

In the meantime, trustees expressed support for a board member who had previously been a lone voice critical of parts of the proposal, which would include 120 single-family homes on the north side of town and a park with baseball and soccer fields.

"I would like to commend Trustee (Don) Saville on his thoroughness and his thoughtfulness," Trustee John Ponio said. Saville had criticized a plan for a 7½-acre park in the proposal and had also come forward with a lengthy list of specifications he was seeking on the project.

"I would like to see that they provide us ... with short specifications on the products they would like to use," Ponio agreed.

Saville reiterated that he wanted more information, including details about materials and numbers of benches and fields in the park.

"If we're going to have (the park), I'd like to see it very specific," Saville said. "We can't make a firm decision with half the apples."