Despite a unanimous recommendation for approval by the Naperville Plan Commission to allow a developer to tear down one of the oldest farmsteads in the city and replace it with six houses, neighbors opposed to the project are not giving up their fight to save it.
Commissioners expressed their regrets that no one has stepped up and taken interest in preserving the buildings on the farm, but agreed they could not burden the property owner by holding up the development request.
“I think it is regrettable. I enjoy the [Naper] Settlement as much as anybody. Maybe the best use is a museum, but you can’t force anybody to do that. I think this development is appropriate,” said Commissioner Derke Price.
Robin Hill Investment Corp. wants to build six houses on the 2-acre site on the north side of 77th Street between Mustang Drive and Yackley Avenue in unincorporated Lisle Township.
The developer is seeking annexation to Naperville and has offered to work with anyone interested in buying the buildings.
The property, known as Hatchwood Farm, includes a two-story single-family home, a Sears, Roebuck and Co. kit barn believed to date to before the 1880s and several other agricultural buildings. It is mostly surrounded by single-family homes.
“This will alter the character of the neighborhood. It [development] is a detriment to the adjacent property,” said Guy Augsburg, who lives next to the site.
The recommendation will be sent to the City Council for final approval.
