Glen Ellyn board gives initial nod to homes near Glen Oak

Glen Ellyn trustees expressed support Monday for a revised plan to add more houses to a proposed subdivision, though some neighbors raised objections to the new design.

The new version of the Enclaves of Glen Oak subdivision does more to alleviate stormwater, improves access for emergency vehicles and is better suited to the surrounding neighborhood with the entrance to the development now off Fairway Avenue, village planners say.

Trustees generally agreed during a meeting when developers sought informal feedback on whether they should move ahead with a bigger project calling for a dozen homes, or four more than the original plan.

The homes would be built on roughly 4.5 acres that would be annexed into the village north of the Glen Oak Country Club. The houses would average about 3,000 square feet and prices would range from the mid-$800,000s to more than $1 million, developers told the plan commission in late January.

Tim Connors, president of an association of homes on Country Club Lane to the south of the proposed subdivision, said neighbors are "keenly aware" that the project would improve stormwater management.

Now, excess stormwater funnels over the site - containing two vacant homes and some accessory structures - toward Country Club Lane and Whittier Avenue, neighbors have said.

The 12-lot plan would capture more of the existing runoff, village planners say, because developers would build a storm sewer and catch basin that would collect and divert water to a slightly bigger and deeper detention pond.

But Connors took issue with the layout of two of the lots, where developers are seeking 20-foot front yard setbacks instead of the 30 feet required in village code. Those houses would face north, while surrounding ones face Cumnor Avenue.

"From an aesthetics standpoint, both from our lots backing up to them and the lots around them, they don't fit the neighborhood," he said.

The changes came after developers entered into a contract to buy an additional property on Cumnor. The eight-lot plan received preliminary village approval in November 2014.

"All in all, compared to the previous plan ... I think it's an improvement," Trustee Timothy O'Shea said.

The village board is expected to vote on the preliminary plans for the 12-home subdivision March 14. The annexation agreement alone requires a two-thirds vote or four trustees, for approval. Trustee Tim Elliott will recuse himself, officials say. The project's attorney works at a law firm where Elliott is a partner, according to meeting minutes.

Then developers would have to prepare final plans, come before the plan commission and secure approval from the village board before obtaining construction permits. They hope to break ground in July or August.