A 51-acre area of open land near the southeast corner of Illinois Highway 59 and Ogden Avenue in Naperville is being backed for designation as mostly commercial, but with a strong residential presence.
The Naperville Plan Commission has voted 5-3 to recommend a rezoning of the eastern portion of the area for multifamily residential. Many commissioners wanted the record to reflect that they urged future development proposals be submitted as planned-unit developments.
Commissioners voted 5-3 in favor of rezoning the west side of the land for less-intensive commercial use.
The area is situated near higher-price townhouses and single-family homes. Many of the area’s residents asked commissioners to keep the land zoned for residential.
But owners of O’Donovan Landscaping preferred to see their three parcels rezoned for intense commercial purposes to get more value from their property. Their land, which fronts Ogden and backs up to a residential area, is now zoned residential, although it is the site of a business.
Commissioners Geoffrey Roehll and Derke Price supported the most-intense commercial designation for the O’Donovan parcels.
“I think [the land] is too much [residential] and a loss of commercial tax base,” Roehll said.
Price backed putting the most-intense commercial use along both roadways, noting, “If Ogden Avenue and [Illinois] 59 is not the place to have commercial, where is?”
Commissioner Steve Albert said the land should remain residential until a developer makes a case for it being rezoned commercial.
Commission Chairman Karl Fry said more-intense commercial use along that stretch of Illinois 59 would add to traffic congestion there. Fry said the better solution would be for landowners and the city to work together and submit proposals for planned-unit development.
