An attempt to rezone land at Randall Road and Fabyan Parkway for commercial use has been overwhelmingly rejected by the Kane County Board Development Committee.
The request by Aetna Developers LLC of Chicago for the 4 acres had previously drawn fire from the county development staff and the Zoning Board.
The plan goes before the full County Board on Nov. 14. An attorney for Aetna declined to speculate on the firm’s next move until then.
Aetna’s property is adjacent to about 16 acres it owns that has been the center of controversy with Batavia and some area residents for the last few years.
The underlying issue is the site’s proximity to Braeburn Marsh and the effect commercial development might have on the man-made haven for wildlife.
With little discussion and one dissenting vote by board member Paul Greviskes (D-Aurora), the Development Committee sided with its staff on the question of rezoning. A key finding was the failure of Aetna’s proposal to support the county’s 2020 Land Resource Management Plan.
According to that plan, areas recommended for major commercial use need to be carefully coordinated with municipalities and occur “only as the properties are annexed and provided with municipal services.”
Batavia had recently rejected annexation of Aetna’s site.
Phillip Bus, executive director of the county’s Development Department, said the incompatibility of Aetna’s request with the county plan was the most important issue leading to his staff’s recommendation not to grant what is the most intense business classification available under county zoning.
Aetna attorney John Regan of Elgin said Aetna wants to build a restaurant with a liquor license. But county officials said the requested zoning also allows for very intense commercial development, including nightclubs and retail.
The county Zoning Board voted to recommend denial of Aetna’s request.
The vote followed a brief presentation by Regan and a small team of experts hired by Aetna to make the company’s case.
Aetna’s experts challenged the county staff’s conclusions that the site, currently zoned for farming, couldn’t support high-intensity uses, no matter what its zoning designation, because of its physical and natural limitations.
The staff also reported, and Aetna disputed, that the zoning would induce traffic congestion and would be inconsistent with the character of the adjacent area.
Aetna has been thwarted in its plans for the busy corner for more than three years, in large part because of opposition from residents concerned about Braeburn Marsh, which is owned by the Kane County Forest Preserve District.
A preservation group, the Braeburn Marsh Defenders, is pressing for the property to be open space.
Regan said the county staff’s recommendation that the property be annexed to Batavia is not “a viable option, at least not at this time. We’ll evaluate our options after the County Board acts.”
Batavia resident Bill Hamilton, who represented the Braeburn Marsh Defenders at the committee meeting, said Aetna owner George Hanus “does have an option: He can sell.”
