The Naperville City Council has approved a new townhome development on land previously within unincorporated DuPage County.
The decision came through a series of affirmative votes at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
New townhome development coming to Naperville
Mill and Bauer LLC’s development includes 10 townhome units at 27W280 Bauer Rd., located at the northeast corner of Mill Street and Bauer Road.
The 39,245-square-foot space was subject to annexation into Naperville’s city limits. The city council voted 8-1 in favor of annexation, with councilman Paul Leong being the lone no vote.
The council also voted to rezone the property to transitional use upon annexation through an 8-1 vote, and approved a density variance for the development via a 7-2 vote.
Councilman Patrick Kelly joined Leong in voting against the density variance.
“I simply don’t see a hardship,” said Kelly. “I also don’t see any affordable housing benefit to the city or other thing that we’ve talked about over the last couple of years of why and when and for what reasons we would grant density variances.”
Locals voice concerns about the development
Three residents spoke out against the development during Tuesday’s meeting.
David Doubek, who lives on Eagle Street, had issues with potential congestion in the area.
“There are no provisions for UPS, Amazon, or other large delivery vehicles on the major intersection,” said Doubek. “I personally see the fire department and ambulances go down the road 5 to 10 times daily using this intersection. What will happen when traffic is backed up due to delivery blocking the only thru lane?”
Councilman Nate Wilson voted in favor of the development and did not believe the townhomes would cause traffic concerns.
“It doesn’t seem like adding an additional ten units would be a huge dampener to traffic,” said Wilson. “And it does seem like it would be a good avenue for transitional housing.”
Local resident Patrice Drendel voiced her safety concerns.
“I could easily see somebody pulling out from that townhome and hitting one of our kids, trying to cross the only sidewalk they have,” said Drendel. “I just don’t think the safety of our children should ever take precedence over the profit of one developer.”
Naperville’s Deputy City Engineer Andy Hines said the area will see “normal sidewalk treatment” from the city.
“It would be treated just like any other commercial driveway,” said Hines. “It depends a little bit on if there’s a stop control there. There (are) certain rules like The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) detectable warnings and such.”
Planning and Zoning’s vote on the development
In July, Naperville’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-4 in favor of the 10-unit condominium development.
Mill and Bauer LLC came to the table in June with their initial plans. Commissioners raised numerous concerns, causing the petitioner to make several changes, including lowering the number of proposed units from 12 to 10, increasing parking spaces, and aligning with city protocols for garbage, and recycling collection and snow removal.
Image rendering courtesy: Studio21 architects
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