North Aurora plan panel OKs housing at ex-golf club
The North Aurora Plan Commission Tuesday recommended a 374-home subdivision at the former Fox Valley Country Club but with several conditions.
It voted 6-0 after a public hearing. Two commissioners were absent and another left before voting.
If the village board OKs the development, grading could begin in fall and building in early 2019.
D.R. Horton/Cambridge wants to build single-family townhouses, duplexes and detached houses on the 102-acre site. It is paying the city of Aurora $5.3 million for the land at 2500 N. River Road.
It needs the village's permission to subdivide the land, and to rezone it to allow more housing units than zoning would permit. It also needs approval of the design, including street layout, green space and stormwater drainage.
The plan commission's conditions were the village board:
• See whether a wider roadway was needed on one of two cul-de-sacs, to accommodate fire trucks' ability to turn.
• Double side yard setbacks in the detached homes area so there would be 20 feet between buildings.
• Try to get impact fees for the North Aurora Fire Protection District to cover some of its increased costs during the gap between construction of the homes and the receipt of property taxes.
• Add strong incentives, such as fines, for the developer to spare as many mature trees as possible from being cut down for construction.
• Try to get a right turn-in lane added to the subdivision's entrance off Route 25.
• Ask the developer to build fewer units.
• Ask the developer to make the development age-restricted not just age-targeted.
"I think the biggest issue is the density," Commissioner Jennifer Duncan said.
Horton/Cambridge intends to market the subdivision to "active adults" in their middle 50s and older, without imposing age restrictions on residency. The developer contends the size and design of the homes (small bedrooms, small lawns) and the fact maintenance such as lawn mowing will be handled by a homeowners association, as factors that will attract seniors.
Some members of the public who spoke at the hearing were dubious about age-targeted, saying there would be nothing to prevent younger families with children from moving in. "You know Millennials, they don't want to do much (home work)," resident James Lawhead said.
The village will also ask for a traffic study. The developer submitted data from a one-day count of traffic.