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Lake Zurich lakefront townhouse development revision has more units

Acting on the advice of some Lake Zurich leaders, the developer who last year proposed an eight-unit townhouse building along the village's namesake lake has partnered with the neighboring property owner and is expanding the project's scope.

The initial proposal for the residential building and a 4,000-square-foot commercial building on one lot now calls for two additional townhouse buildings on the neighboring lot, bringing the total number of residential units to 23. The development would be located just southeast of the busy intersection of Route 12 and Old Rand Road.

The developer, Romeo Kapudija, co-founder of Miller Street Partners, said he reached out to the owners of the neighboring property after it was suggested by village board members during his courtesy review presentation in December.

Village President Tom Poynton said he was pleased Kapudija incorporated the board's suggestions.

"It's unusual that we have somebody listen to us like you've listened to us," Poynton said.

During his presentation of the revised plan Tuesday, Kapudija gave more details about what business might end up in the commercial building. He said he has talked to many potential tenants, including Starbucks and two companies he called higher-end food chains.

Board member reaction to the plan was mostly positive.

Trustee Janice Gannon, who was not able to attend the meeting but submitted comments to be read aloud, listed several concerns about the size of the revised plan. The new plan increases the number of boat slips from eight to 30.

Gannon, who is a lakefront owner, said there are 232 permits for motorized boats issued each year by the lake's management group.

She said boat traffic increased because of the pandemic last year, and on many days there were as many as 50 boats on the 250-acre lake at a time.

"We are asking for huge problems if we allowed our tiny lake to get abused by unsafe boat populations," Gannon said.

Trustee Mary Beth Euker sought to counter those concerns and said she spoke with a marine officer in Wauconda about Bangs Lake, which is 304 acres. The officer said Wauconda issues 900 to 950 permits for motorized boats per year and the most traffic at a time comes on July 4, when there are some 250 boats on the water.

Euker complimented the look of the revised plan and said the layout was beautiful.

The developer's next step would be the village's planning and zoning commission before the proposal returns to village trustees for a vote.

Plan would add townhouses to lakefront

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