Plan to build more homes near Campton Hills moves forward

Residents near a 179-acre site between Campton Hills and Lily Lake aren't fond of a plan to create new rural residential lots, but a Kane County Board committee wasn't ready to dismiss the idea this week.

The plan, known as the Brown Anderson Road Property Planned Unit Development, originally would've converted land that is currently open space into a mix of commercial and residential property. The developers, Roger and Janet Brown, have since dropped the commercial element of the plan.

That's not enough for residents in the nearby Oak Openings subdivision just south of the site. The boundaries of the proposed development site have Route 64 on the north, Oak Openings on the south, Route 47 on the west and Anderson Road on the east.

Oak Openings residents slammed the plan Tuesday as being inconsistent with what both they and the county have envisioned for the site up to now. The county's 2030 plan calls for the site to be open space. Even though 40 percent of the site would still remain open space under the development proposal, that's not open enough for nearby residents who don't want the additional neighbors, traffic or potential impact to their water and drainage systems. The residents of Oak Openings are on a well system. Residents believe the open space is necessary to recharge their water supply.

Oak Openings is in Kane County Board member Drew Frasz' district. Frasz, of Elburn, wasn't prepared to send the concept plan for the development to the next step, but he also wasn't ready to kill the idea of any development on the site.

"It's quite a variance although it is consistent with the trend and character of the surrounding area," Frasz said. "This is a tremendous opportunity at this juncture for the homeowners association and the developer to try and communicate over the next few months and try to work something out."

Kane County Forest Preserve District President John Hoscheit said if the county is serious about keeping the land open space, then it should assume the financial responsibility behind that edict.

"If we're going to require it to be open space, then we as a public entity should acquire the property," Hoscheit said. "I make that point not to be negative on the open space concept. If we had the resources, we'd consider acquiring the entire parcel. That's something we need to take into consideration."

However, Hoscheit also said the forest preserve district may not have the money to purchase the parcel right now.

The county board's Development Committee ultimately pushed the concept plan forward to the next step. Approval of a concept plan is a very early stage in the development process and does not necessarily mean the details of the project will be approved once submitted. Frasz and fellow county board member Jeanette Mihalec voted against moving the plan forward.