An advisory committee this week recommended that the Village Board send a letter to the Cook County Board citing a half-dozen concerns it has about the proposed development of a controversial vacant parcel of land just outside of the village’s borders.
The strip of land, known to local residents as the Carlson property, has remained vacant over the years while surrounding land was developed into neat subdivisions of brick homes. The overgrown condition of the landscape, as well as 24 acres of lake and wetlands, make it an attractive hangout for teenagers. The parcel also was the site of peat bog fires that smoldered for months last summer.
Developer Tom Killarney of Orland Park is proposing to build 24 homes on the 48-acre parcel, which is southeast of 143rd Street and Will-Cook Road, in unincorporated Orland Township, said his attorney David Sosin.
The developer is not seeking to annex the subdivision to Orland Park, but is presenting the plan because the village has advisory authority over projects within 1 1/2 miles of its municipal borders. The Village Board is expected to vote Monday on whether to approve or reject the project.
The village’s Community Development Committee recommended that soil tests be conducted to ensure construction safety. The committee also wants motorized boats to be prohibited on the lake, adequate buffer landscaping and plantings for erosion control.
Three years ago, a different developer proposed a 34-home project and was approved by the county. The current developer only needs to seek a modification of that approval from the county, according to Nick Phillips, secretary of the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
