Palatine approves townhouse development, cutting down trees

A 24-unit townhouse development just north of Palatine Road between North Crescent Avenue and North Quentin Road got the green light from the Palatine village council Monday night despite neighbors' concerns that the project would leave them in the dark on the north or force trees to be chopped down to the south.

The development will feature five buildings along a new private road that will connect North Crescent Avenue and North Quentin.

The main question the council had to address during the 40-minute discussion was whether the road should be widened to allow for street parking.

To widen the street would mean cutting down several trees along the south side of the property, something neighbor John Symiakos opposed.

"Trees are a critical thing for our health," Symiakos said. " We're going to have to have 100 more cars in the area, going to need the mature trees to suck up the carbon dioxide, filter airborne pollutants and reduce noise pollution."

If the council elected to shift the planned development to the north to save the trees, the shadows cast by the three-story townhouse buildings would loom over more of the neighbors to the north, something neighbor Sonya Mitchell opposed.

"Our properties are going to be very, very close together," Mitchell said. "If these buildings are moved four feet, I'm not sure what is going to happen to our landscaping."

Bill Rotolo, representing the developer Lexington Homes, told the council that it would be hard to satisfy all concerns.

"I'm between a rock and a hard place trying to satisfy the north and the south (neighbors)," Rotolo said.

Rotolo proposed not widening the private road, which would mean the developer would be able to keep most of the existing trees to the south and not push the buildings farther north.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said he opposed eliminating street parking.

"When the developer's long gone and people are living there ... it becomes the village's problem of why don't we have enough parking," he said. "I think having some level of on-street parking helps it be long-term successful."

The council voted 5-1 to widen the private road to the south, which means the trees will have to be cut down.

Ottesen said after the meeting that a lot of the trees that will need to be removed are dead or past their prime.

"What you're losing are not high-quality trees," Ottesen said.

Now that the plan has been approved work on the townhouses could begin as soon as this summer.