Naperville nixes Old Plank Road plan

The Naperville City Council on Tuesday narrowly denied a controversial proposal to build duplexes along Old Plank Road on the northeast side of town.

Developer EPEIUS Inc. asked the city to annex land on the north side of Old Plank Road between Milton Drive and Springhill Circle to build five duplexes for active adults. The property is a 3.14-acre wooded area that sits adjacent to Seager Park.

City staff members supported the proposal, but last month the plan commission rejected it and residents have voiced numerous concerns including stormwater management, loss of mature trees, harming the character of nearby neighborhoods and the impact on Seager Park.

Seventeen residents spoke out against it Tuesday.

"He's trying to put too much of the wrong design on too little of an allocated space," resident Bob Swininoga said.

But Russ Whitaker, attorney for the developer, said stormwater would be properly handled to avoid flooding and 33 percent of the property would remain open space, including a flower garden.

Roughly 25 percent of the trees would be preserved and new trees would be planted, especially along the border of the park. The development would also have a walking path to the park.

"We would not be the first houses that are going to be visible from the walking path within Seager Park," Whitaker said. "I would suggest that if residents would like to totally avoid civilization the best place to go is going to be McDowell Grove Forest Preserve, which is just down the way."

The development was rejected with a 5-4 vote. Councilmen Richard Furstenau, Doug Krause, John Rosanova, Robert Fieseler and Grant Wehrli voted to deny the petition.

Krause said he wouldn't support the development even if it was revised. His concerns included flooding issues, the density of the duplexes and plans for open space on top of underground storage vaults.

"That's not sizzle and it doesn't do much good for the residents because it's not open space that's usable," he said.

Mayor George Pradel, Joe Dunn, Kenn Miller and James Boyajian supported keeping it alive, at least to have more research and discussion on it.

Pradel said he grew up near the area and felt too emotionally attached to it to be ready to vote. But Furstenau said giving the proposal more time would simply "prolong the agony."

Plan: Developer's attorney says flooding, space issues already addressed