Naperville to gain 3 acres, develop 19 townhouses

The city of Naperville gained about three more acres Tuesday night and approved it to be the site of 19 townhouses.

Council members voted to annex the land at 9S252 Naper Boulevard and allow it to become the site of Linden Woods, which will offer what developer Paul Trotto described as luxury two-bedroom townhouses starting in the low $400,000s.

Trotto said site work could begin this year on the land, which stands vacant south of Bailey Road between Orleans Avenue and Ursuline Avenue near several multifamily subdivisions.

Council members said they had no issues with the site plans, which call for four buildings containing four units and one building with three units.

They did, however, debate how the city should require Trotto to pay the required school and park contributions to Naperville Unit District 203 and Naperville Park District.

Usually, school and park contributions are calculated based on a formula involving the number of bedrooms and must be paid all at once before a developer can get a final plat and plan recorded, said Allison Laff, deputy director of transportation, engineering and development.

But in this case, the council by a 5-4 vote is allowing Trotto to pay a portion of the fee before receiving a building permit for each unit.

The total school fee is $23,745, so $1,249 must be paid before receiving the permit for each unit; while the park fee of $100,316 must be paid in increments of $5,279 per unit.

Council members Paul Hinterlong, John Krummen, Rebecca Boyd-Obarski and Judith Brodhead voted against the variance in payment timing, with some saying they were concerned the creation of a payment plan could set a precedent other developers would want to follow.

But Mayor Steve Chirico and council member Kevin Coyne, who voted for the change along with council members Patty Gustin, Becky Anderson and Kevin Gallaher, said it's important to be flexible to promote economic development.

"We have to be more open to being creative to get things done," Coyne said.

Laff said city staff members are launching a review of the school and park donation policy and will bring the topic to the planning and zoning commission and the city council for more discussion.

"I'm all in favor of reinvestigating this policy and coming up with a better policy," Krummen said. "Times have changed and it does need to be looked at."