Many a home with kids has a swing set in the yard. But in three South Elgin subdivisions, a home with a swing set is a home with a lawbreaker.
Also fences, doghouses, storage sheds and permanent swimming pools are against the law. Even clotheslines are verboten.
The rule was adopted by the Village Board June 6, and it applies to new subdivisions of 25 acres or more and any lot of less than 10,000 square feet.
But 100 buyers in the Wildmeadow subdivision on the north side of the village appeared at a Village Board meeting to tell the village to back off.
Jenny Pinner, who bought a home on Oxford Lane, was close to tears when she told the board about her efforts to try to watch her two toddlers in their fence-less back yard.
“They’re going to get hurt and wander in the street,” said Pinner, who moved three weeks ago from Elgin to her “dream home” in South Elgin. “We hate to believe anyone would do this. (The ordinance) is so discriminating.”
In 1989, Lexington Homes, the original developer of Wildmeadow, proposed a subdivision with some lots under 10,000 square feet, but promised to preserve a feeling of open space by attaching a convenant that would prohibit permanent outside structures.
In 1993 the land was sold to Kirk Corp. of Streamwood without the covenant provision. As a result the Village Board acted to ensure open space by ordinance. The board is expected to discuss the issue at its next meeting, Aug. 1.
