Bloomingdale consultants criticize Indian Lakes plan
Bloomingdale residents aren't the only ones raising concerns about a controversial proposal to build houses on a shuttered golf course.
Consultants hired by the village to review K. Hovnanian Homes' plan to transform roughly 191 acres at Indian Lakes Resort into a neighborhood for empty nesters say there are numerous issues that should be addressed.
"The application and site plan are unreasonable and adverse to nearby land use and zoning," said Allen Kracower, a planning, zoning and real estate consultant.
That opinion was first in a long list of preliminary findings Kracower shared Tuesday during a second public hearing about K. Hovnanian Homes' proposal to build an "active lifestyle" community for residents 55 and older that would be called Four Seasons at Indian Lakes.
The third public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, at Lake Park High School's East Campus.
The hearings come 2½ years after First ILR LLC, which owns the 223-acre Indian Lakes property along Schick Road, permanently closed the 27-hole golf course and a conference center as part of an effort to preserve the hotel.
K. Hovnanian is seeking village permission to redevelop the former golf course land with 535 ranch-style houses and a 14,000-square-foot clubhouse. It will be up to the village board to decide whether to approve the developer's application for a planned unit development.
Bloomingdale's planning and zoning commission is hosting the public hearings to gather feedback before making its recommendation to the village board.
During Tuesday's hearing, Kracower said the project's site plan calls for an "excessive massing" of housing units that's "not compatible with the trend and character of nearby land use and zoning," he said.
He also criticized the plan for having narrower streets and smaller lots than the village normally would allow. He said K. Hovnanian would need to justify why it doesn't want standard street widths and lot sizes.
When it comes to the proposed neighborhood's detention ponds, Kracower suggested they be located away from the edge of the development so neighboring homeowners "do not have any potential for flooding."
In addition, he said the removal of more than 1,000 large, high-quality trees would hurt the natural environment.
"I wish I was wrong," Kracower said. "But the evidence points to the fact these trees are probably going to come down."
After his presentation, Kracower received a round of applause from the crowd of more than 300.
The village's staff and consultants spent most of the four-hour meeting addressing the planning and zoning commission. But residents were able to speak for more than an hour.
Most of the residents who spoke said they oppose the project. They voiced concerns about potential flooding, increased traffic and decreased property values.
"If this thing moves in, we move out," said Carol Chesick, who has lived in her Bloomingdale home for nearly 39 years. "I have my fingers crossed, and I'm praying that you're not going to accept this."
Resident David Heidner said the developers are "absolutely entitled" to seek permission to build the project. But he said, "that doesn't mean we have to stand here and accept it."
"We will continue to keep on coming out until this is finally done," Heidner said.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for First ILR and K. Hovnanian said they are pleased to have received feedback from the village. "We're confident that through good-faith discussions, we can refine and improve the initial plan we developed," Patrick Skarr said in an email.