The South Barrington Plan Commission got its first look at a petition to lower the minimum commercial-lot size of 10 acres to as little as 1 acre in the proposed Sutton Crossing development.
Avlon Development Group wants to develop 120 acres at the southeast corner of Illinois Highways 59 and 72 into an office, hotel and retail complex. The land is currently being farmed; 83 acres of the property are in South Barrington, and 37 acres are in Hoffman Estates. Last week, the two village boards approved an intergovernmental agreement to exchange 5 acres of land to allow for the consolidation of the property into easily recognizable parcels.
According to Avlon’s proposal, 1.3 million square feet of the 2.1 million square feet in commercial buildings would be in Hoffman Estates, and 800,000 square feet would be in South Barrington.
About five years ago, Avlon successfully petitioned South Barrington to have 17 acres zoned for retail development and 70 acres for office research.
To improve the marketability of the site, the developer is seeking to have the previous agreement amended to allow buildings up to 10 stories tall along the Northwest Tollway in South Barrington.
The developer also seeks to amend the lot size requirement to allow building on a minimum of 3 acres on the northeast corner of the development and minimum of 1 acre in the retail area.
Plan Commission Chairman Frank Munao asked village planner Steve Lenet to research how the proposed development would affect other properties.
“I believe people are concerned about the domino effect of allowing higher density for one development,” Munao said.
The hearing is scheduled to resume at 7 p.m. July 13.
