‘Busting at the seams’: Yorkville council tables townhome plan amid school opposition

Yorkville School District 115 is in a capacity crisis and argues having the city throw a little extra money its way won’t solve the problem.

While voicing the school district’s opposition to the timing of the Fox Haven 1115, LLC townhome proposal, Kreg Wesley, District 115’s assistant superintendent of business services, said the school district simply has no more room.

“We’re in the middle of our facility master plan,” Wesley said during the meeting. “We’re busting at the seams, and we really need to get a good handle on our development. We are in support of a development like this, there’s tons of value to it. The issue is the district cannot support this development at this time, even with the increased transition fees.”

The Yorkville City Council approved at their March 11 meeting to increase transition fees residential developers pay to the school district, from $3,000 per home to $5,000. The district says it has no space for more kids no matter the transition fee rate.

The Fox Haven development at the former site of Parfection Park, 1115 South Bridge Street proposes redeveloping 13 acres to construct 18 townhome buildings with 105 dwelling units.

At its meeting, the city council voted to table the development’s proposal until April 8 to provide the opportunity for some aldermen to meet with the school district to further involve them in the process. Aldermen Ken Koch and Daniel Transier argued this would give the council more time to address the density concerns arising from new developments.

The project developers, 1115, LLC, agreed to pay the increased rate of the new city-approved transition fees. This adjustment increases 1115, LLC’s bill to the schools from $471,000 to $785,000.

The school district is expected to request the city to approve an updated transition fee in the $8,000 to $10,000 per home range following an analysis conducted in late spring.

Transition fees are impact fees designed to offset the costs of student enrollment growth spurred by new residential developments. They help cover lags between new students using district resources before their household pays their first property bills.

The new temporary rate of $5,000 per home applies immediately to any residential developments throughout the city that does not have a current fee lock in their planned agreements.

At the heart of the impasse is a disagreement between the developers and the school district over just how many students the townhome development will add to the district.

The school district argues the 105 units will produce at least 77 students, while the developers say the 105 units will only produce 23 extra students.

The school district argued even 23 extra students would exacerbate its capacity crisis. The district recently approved installing temporary “pole barn classrooms” at a cost of $3 million because its elementary schools are out of classroom space. The district is also planning to bus students to different schools than their closest ones to better balance capacity at each of the district’s over-filled schools.

Kim Schmidt, a resident of Greenbriar subdivision near the Fox Haven proposal site, said beyond the traffic congestion problems along Route 47 that the development will worsen, the schools need the city’s help.

“As a parent who has had kids in the district for 15 years, our school district is in a crisis,” Schmidt said during the meeting. “The rate of student enrollment growth has surpassed our school district’s physical capabilities to house our students. The classrooms are overwhelmed. As a parent, that’s concerning. We’re not opposed to growth. We just request controlled and responsible city planning and one that works hand-in-hand with our school district and the Yorkville residents.”

At the upcoming April 8 meeting, city council will again reconsider rezoning the property to allow multi-family residence townhomes and to approve the planned unit development agreement with 1115, LLC.