Neighbors, city officials worry Yorkville may not have room for new development

A planned development in Yorkville is raising concerns from some city officials and neighbors who argue the area already features a high concentration of commercial properties.

Developers Marker Inc. is seeking city approval for their planned development, Heartland Meadows West, a mix-used project that will feature 20-single family residential homes along with four commercial outlots. The homes will be age-restricted for 55-and-older, as part of a senior living community.

A final vote of approval for the development is currently scheduled for the next City Council meeting in January.

The currently vacant 8.29-acre site is nestled along the Kendall Marketplace commercial properties, north of Blackberry Shore Lane and between Northland Lane and Cannonball Trail. The site is designated for park usage and open green space by the city’s 2016 Comprehensive Plan.

Ward 3 alderman Chris Funkhouser voiced his grievance with the City Council at their Dec. 10 meeting, saying that while Marker Inc. has already developed great properties for the city, he does not see the benefit of more commercial properties in this specific high density area.

“We have plenty of commercial throughout the city and immediately adjacent to it,” Funkhouser said at the meeting. “I’ve issued my grievances to no avail...My comments have gone on deaf ears and so have my residents’. I’m here representing my residents who live on Northland and live throughout these two adjacent communities.”

Darren Crawford, a resident of Ward 3, told the council at the meeting that he opposed the development because the area already has commercial developments on the south side of Blackberry Shore Lane, in the Hartford properties, and in the Kendall Marketplace properties.

“You have so many storefronts that are just empty, it doesn’t make sense to put four more on the north side of Blackberry Lane,” Crawford said at the meeting. “I know there are others in our subdivision that have the same concerns. Even with Kendall Marketplace, which has exposure to Route 34, it’s still not bringing in the commercial that we expected years ago.”

Funkhouser also raised concerns that the development might disadvantage the rest of the Kendall Marketplace properties, arguing that Heartland Meadows West may be developed faster because of its lack of a Special Service Area designation, a public-private partnership with the city that the Kendall Marketplace commercial properties already have.

Funkhouser said the area’s high density development is compounded by the variance granted to the Heartland Meadows West development to reduce the interior and corner side yard setbacks from the public street.

“15 feet? That’s kind of egregious,” Funkhouser said at the meeting.

The developers also requested a variance to reduce the rear yard setback from 40 feet to 20 feet, because of the location of a city water main.

At the meeting, the developers argued that the property has been sitting vacant for years and that they are the first high-quality developers to come forward. They pointed to the success of their other developments in the city.

Mayor John Purcell said the success of the other two developments reflects in the additional revenue they bring in for the city’s residents.

“We’re hoping the commercial taxes would go to the school district,” Purcell said at the meeting.

Because Heartland Meadows West is for the 55-and-older crowd, the developers requested the Yorkville School District 115 wave $60,000 in impact fees from their development, intended to offset any costs associated with new properties increasing the student population.