Despite opposition from community Yorkville City Council moves commercial development forward

Despite opposition from residents that another commercial development in Yorkville makes little sense considering the already vacant storefronts, city council gave the project the green light.

The new development, named Heartland Meadows West, by developer Marker Inc., will feature 20-single family residential homes as part of a senior living community, along with four commercial outlots. The homes will be age-restricted to the 55-and-older.

The development would be located north of Blackberry Shore Lane and between North Lande and Cannonball Trail, as part of the Kendall Marketplace commercial area.

At the Jan. 14 city council meeting, several community members raised their concerns that the commercial properties will inundate the area with traffic. Neighboring residents said the area already experiences traffic issues because of the adjacent public baseball field. Several residents said the increased traffic increases safety risks for the kids running in-and-out of the street near the public park.

Despite the opposition, the city council approved both necessary ordinances for the planned development to continue. Only Aldermen Chris Funkhouser voted against the project.

The commercial lots will remain undeveloped until Marker Inc. can line-up contracts with occupants for the storefronts. The developers have suggested they want the commercial properties to become medical offices.

During the city council meeting, Yorkville-resident Dawn Watson said she fears other commercial ventures could move in if the developers can’t attract a medical company.

“If you look at Kendall Marketplace right now, most of those units are unoccupied,” Watson said during the meeting. “If medical offices desired that location, they would already be in the Kendall Marketplace. We love our subdivision. We love that Yorkville is growing. However, we’re going to see a lot of issues with those commercial buildings being empty. Crime is increasing because they’re empty, as well as the parking issue with the baseball field directly across from that area.”

A neighboring resident, Kim Cooper, said she fears the project will compound the parking issues in the residential area.

“Adding a new entrance into this subdivision, where the kids run back and forth, is a concern for me,” Cooper said during the meeting. “We already have a hard time getting out our driveway because there’s so many people that park there. I consider this as part of an ongoing problem, and this is just going to add to it.”

Before the city council approved the developer’s plans, Mayor John Purcell said during the meeting that the city planners should keep in-mind the currently vacant commercial storefronts if a national retailer comes looking for a place in Yorkville.

Daniel Kramer, an attorney representing the developers, said during the meeting that the specific location is desired because the senior citizens living in the homes could then walk with ease to the near-by Kendall Marketplace retail center. He said there is also a memory care and assisted-living center in the area. Kramer said the commercial property’s parking spaces could be used after-hours by members of the public who are visiting the park and baseball field.

Funkhouser voiced his opposition saying that having the city develop commercial properties in that area has been his fear since day one.

“You’ve heard from residents tonight that there are concerns,” Funkhouser said. “Kendall Marketplace has 40 acres of vacant commercial right now. That is 24 lots. We do not need commercial here. It’s going to bring traffic.”

Funkhouser also said that the Yorkville School District 115 has not given their consent to waive $60k in impact fees from the developers, designed to offset growth in the community. Kramer said the developers would continue without the fee waiver if an agreement could not be reached.

Kramer said during the meeting that it may be many years before the developers line-up occupants for the commercial properties before they begin construction.