Opposition continues regarding plans to redevelop former police station site in St. Charles

Residents continue to voice their opposition to two proposals for the redevelopment of the former police station site along the Fox River in St. Charles.

“We believe that the two proposals that remain on the table, namely the Frontier Development proposal and the Murphy proposal, should be dismissed,” Mike Kanute said during the St. Charles City Council’s Government Operations Committee meeting Nov. 7. “It doesn’t seem to make any sense to leave those two proposals languishing. I think it creates confusion. It arouses suspicion and, frankly, the longer these proposals sit there, the more stale and outdated the information becomes. So I would respectfully request that they be removed from further consideration.”

His wife, Eileen Kanute, started an online petition against Frontier Development’s plans. More than 700 people have signed the petition, which opposes the proposal for several reasons, including that the proposal is too big for the riverfront and that heavy traffic will overwhelm the surrounding neighborhoods and Main Street.

In addition to the online petition, she said residents have signed paper petitions expressing their opposition to the proposals. She is part of a group called Citizens for Responsible Development.

“Our online plus paper are over 1,200 today,” Eileen Kanute said in an email Nov. 11. “That is in just one month of getting the word out.”

The group has a website, savestcriverfront.com.

Other residents at the meeting also requested the two proposals be removed from consideration.

“I’m sure we will take all that under advisement,” 1st Ward Alderperson Ron Silkaitis, chair of the Government Operations Committee, said in response to their comments. “And we shall go from there. I don’t have an answer for you right now.”

St. Charles Mayor Lora Vitek recently said she plans to revisit the redevelopment process in the spring. Discussion of two concept plans for the site was dropped from the Nov. 14 City Council Planning and Development Committee meeting.

St. Charles residents packed the City Council chambers Oct. 10 to hear about two redevelopment proposals for the former St. Charles police station site. During the City Council’s Planning and Development Committee meeting, Chicago-based Murphy Development Group and Frontier Development, which has been involved with several projects in downtown St. Charles, presented their plans for the land.

Murphy Development Group proposes to build a five- to seven-story building that would house 141 apartments, a restaurant and retail space. The project would cost an estimated $60.5 million, with the developer not seeking any incentives from the city.

Frontier Development, in partnership with Chicago-based The Prime Group and Architectural Wood Expressions, proposes to build one six-story building and parking garage that would contain 107 residential units, four restaurants, 164 hotel rooms, a spa/fitness center and conference space. An 85,000-square-foot outdoor plaza, two rooftop pools and 750 lineal feet of public riverwalk also are part of the plans.

The project would cost about $150 million to build with the developers asking the city for up to $20 million tax increment financing and revenue sharing financing provided by the city.

Vitek said the city has received both positive and negative comments about both of the proposals.

“The City Council believes some valid issues were raised in the public discussions when the concepts were presented,” Vitek said in an email. “I am taking the time to engage staff to further look into issues such as parking, traffic and use of the river. While this may slow the process a bit, I believe the additional research and review are important to the successful redevelopment of the site.”