A proposed 900-unit residential development has gotten the next green light from the Campton Hills Village Board, after the village’s trustees unanimously approved preliminary plans for the project at a meeting on Tuesday.
The ordinance unanimously approved by the board Tuesday, which grants the project a preliminary Planned Unit Development, or PUD, zoning designation, essentially gives the developer — Geneva-based Shodeen Group — the ability to move forward with things like engineering review and negotiating infrastructure improvements, according to village attorney Carmen Forte.
The proposed development, called LaFox of Campton Hills, is set to be built on 962 acres generally bounded by Route 38 to the north, Keslinger Road to the south, Harley Road to the west and Brundige Road to the east. The area was previously unincorporated, but in September was annexed into Campton Hills in anticipation of the development.
The area has weathered numerous proposals for development over the years, none of which have come to fruition.
Proposals for developing the area have historically faced opposition by resident groups, but Shodeen’s pitch ultimately secured their support — through meetings with the local organizations and proposing a project with a lower density of homes and considerable open space.
The development is set to include 900 housing units, with more than half of the development remaining open space, according to plans.
The village board ultimately opted to annex the land into Campton Hills in September as Shodeen pursued the project. Annexation benefits property owners, Shodeen President David Patzelt said previously, because being part of a municipality means more staff and capabilities for managing the land. As for the village, annexing gives it a chance to shape what happens in the area and ensure the project is in line with its goal of low-density development and open space.
Suburbs on the fringes of the Chicago metropolitan area have seen considerable population growth in recent years, new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau show. But expansion and development projects can be hamstrung by some of the elected officials and residents in those very communities, who say things like the prevalence of green space is what prompted them to move there in the first place.
However, as the suburbs see their populations grow, Campton Hills has been a vocal proponent of remaining a semi-rural community. Its mission statement, for example, highlights priorities like “agriculture traditions” and “honoring rural heritage,” a philosophy that’s in line with the local resident groups which opposed previous development proposals.
Now, with the backing of local groups and the village’s board, Shodeen is moving forward with its development project.
At the village’s Nov. 17 board meeting, Forte said that the villlage’s Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended approval of the PUD, with some conditions. The preliminary PUD was then brought to the village board on Dec. 2 for a vote.
Included in the materials for the preliminary approval were things like an initial landscape plan and a sample construction phasing plan. The approval was also contingent on some specific conditions, outlining requirements for things like roadway width and street lighting for the project.
Tuesday’s approval from the Campton Hills Village Board is only preliminary, however, and doesn’t give the green light for construction yet, as a final PUD — which has “a lot more meat on the bones,” according to Forte — must be approved first.
The developer has two years from the approval of a preliminary PUD, he noted, to submit an application for a final PUD. The project is expected to occur in phases.
But, though the plans ultimately got the green light from the village board, one question that was raised concerned affordable housing and what role this development might play in increasing affordable housing stock in Campton Hills.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Trustee Terese Hopfensperger asked what the dollar amount of housing that’s considered affordable in the village is.
Trustee Frank Binetti said the threshold is variable depending on how much debt a person has, but on average for a family of four, is about $266,000. But Trustee Nicolas Boatner noted that, as they drill down to Campton Hills, rather than the broader area, the affordable rate would be considerably higher.
Campton Hills has one of the lowest rates of affordable housing stock in the state, according to a 2023 statewide report from the Illinois Housing Development Authority on the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act. Per the report, its share of affordable housing — defined as being within the means of homebuyers making 80% of the regional median household income or renters making 60% of the regional median household income — was just 2.4%.
According to IHDA’s 2024 guidelines, an affordable home in the Chicago metropolitan area — Kane County included — would equate to a purchase price of roughly $174,000 for a single person or just under $250,000 for a family of four, for example.
Hopfensperger said it’s been “impractical” for the village to have affordable housing when units use wells and a septic system. But, with this new subdivision coming where that won’t be a problem, she said she wanted to make sure they take that into consideration and “don’t create a scenario down the road that we didn’t address this housing issue.”
“If the townhomes (proposed for the project) are actually going to help with that statistic, then that’s …good news,” Hopfensperger said.
Forte clarified that municipalities that fall below the state’s threshold of 10% affordable housing must have a plan for how they intend to meet that threshold.
Trustee Janet Burson noted that individuals seeking more affordable housing are not just those moving into the community, but also include those currently living there — older residents who age out of their houses, those who are divorced or widowed, adult children seeking to remain living in the community. But she expressed the opinion that the issue was unrelated to the PUD approval.
“I don’t believe there’s been any representation that any of this is affordable housing,” said Burson at the meeting about the project.
This approval process is occurring simultaneously, Forte noted at the meeting, with the village’s evaluation of whether to create a tax increment financing, or TIF, district in the area.
A TIF 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. The annexation agreement, approved by the board in September, notes the possibility of a TIF district.
According to Forte, whether the village decides to create a TIF district is set to be decided before the final PUD plan is approved.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
