Campton Hills is moving forward with its consideration of whether to annex land currently part of an unincorporated community in Kane County into the village, as a local developer looks to build up to 900 housing units on the property.
The village is holding a public hearing about possibly annexing the land on Sept. 4, and could vote on an agreement to do so at the same meeting.
Since the early 2000s, multiple developers have tried and failed to turn the area — in what is currently rural La Fox, an unincorporated community in Kane County — into a residential development.
But the most recent proposal, by Geneva-based developer Shodeen Group, features a less dense housing plan than previous projects, according to past reporting. And it has the support of the local open space organizations that have previously opposed the area’s development.
The 962-acre project area is generally bounded by Route 38 to the north, Keslinger Road to the south, Harley Road to the west and Brundige Road to the east, according to past reporting. Shodeen’s proposed plan includes 900 housing units and leaves significant portions of the development area as open space, according to Shodeen President David Patzelt.
The project is not set to include apartment-style units, nor any commercial development, according to past reporting.
In recent months, the less-dense housing project has been largely well-received by officials at Campton Hills, despite the area’s history of community backlash and failed projects. Maintaining the “semi-rural quality of their environment” is part of the village’s mission statement.
And, now, it’s officially headed to a public hearing on Sept. 4, according to Campton Hills Village Administrator Mark Rooney.
A public hearing was originally set for June, but was delayed to give the village board more time to discuss and allow the village to continue working on the annexation agreement, according to Rooney, particularly the agreement’s stipulation that the developer sell the open space to entities like a forest preserve district or other land conservancy organizations.
Among the terms included in the draft annexation agreement are the requirement that roughly 440 acres of the land remain open space and that the property include a maximum of 900 residential units in a variety of lot sizes.
If the village board gives the green light on annexation, the next step would be for the developer to seek a Planned Unit Development, or PUD, zoning designation from the village. Shodeen has yet to purchase the land for this project, Patzelt previously said, but has entered into negotiations with the property owner.
Other matters related to the project are also being worked out in the meantime — like whether the village will create a tax increment financing district for the area.
A TIF, or tax increment financing, district is a sort of economic development incentive in which the value of a property is essentially frozen, and the extra or “increment” taxes created by developing the property go into a special fund used to pay for costs related to improving the area.
Earlier this month, the village board authorized Campton Hills to hire Chicago-based consulting firm SB Friedman Development Advisors, LLC. to study whether the area is eligible for a TIF district.
According to Rooney, the TIF study was partly spurred on by the possible costs of water and sanitary system upgrades for the project area. The developer, which is responsible for paying for utility upgrades, could potentially use TIF increment funds for water and sewer infrastructure upgrades meant to increase capacity in the area, but not for things like the individual water and sewer lines for the homes built, Rooney said.
The draft annexation agreement says that the developer is responsible for utility extensions, and notes the village’s consideration of establishing a TIF district.
At a village board meeting discussing the hiring of a consultant for the potential TIF district, Trustee Frank Binetti said the village needed to make it clear that the utility extension work isn’t being paid for by the village.
And Trustee Mike Millette pointed to nearby Sugar Grove, which is currently facing a legal challenge to a TIF district planned for the controversial Crown Community Development project.
Campton Hills will get reimbursed for the costs of hiring SB Friedman — estimated at a little over $35,000, per the consultant — by the developer via an escrow agreement with the village, according to Rooney.
Rooney said that the village’s final decision on whether to create a TIF district would most likely happen after the zoning process and the developer closing on the sale of the land. Campton Hills will also form a joint review board that allows local taxing bodies to weigh in on, for example, what constitutes a cost the TIF increment funds can be used for.
Also underway are negotiations between Shodeen and Geneva School District 304, which is the school district for the development area.
The developer has been in conversation with the local taxing bodies, including Geneva District 304, for months, about the impact a residential development would have on the area.
Earlier this month, the school board voted to approve a financial agreement with Shodeen.
The agreement requires that the developer pay an upfront financial contribution to the district of roughly $6.1 million, with adjustments for the Consumer Price Index over the course of construction. And, if Campton Hills establishes a TIF district in the area, the district’s agreement with Shodeen requires that tax increment generated by the TIF district be used to pay the district the full cost of tuition for every student enrolled in the district that resides in the newly-developed area, each year for the life of the TIF district — which, in Illinois, can be up to 23 years.
At the Aug. 5 meeting of the Geneva 304 school board, Superintendent Andy Barrett noted that the development could result in hundreds of new students.
“We know that new students will have impact on the district,” Barrett said. “On facilities, on technology needs, transportation, any of the resources that we have, obviously teachers.”
Barrett also noted that the district is granting the developer a utility easement through a district-owned property in the area, essentially granting the developer access to the property to run utilities to the development project. The property will still be owned by the school district, Barrett told The Beacon-News.
The agreement also stipulates that the school district not object to the creation of a TIF district should the village choose to do so — a situation that’s currently playing out in the nearby Sugar Grove development project.
Shodeen, for its part, is also in support of the terms of the agreement, according to Patzelt, who called the housing project “a win for everyone in the community.”
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
