2 townhouse developments get green light from Crystal Lake

More than 100 new townhomes will be coming to Crystal Lake as the City Council unanimously approved two developments along Bard Road and Route 31. Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning had backed both proposals last month.

1201 Bard Road

The city gave developers the go-ahead to construct 48 owner-occupied townhomes southwest of the intersection of Bard and Huntley roads.

Developer Paul Swanson and his attorney Tom Burney first started working on creating Crystal Pointe Row Homes about three years ago. Developer Ram Prashantha took over the project when Swanson died in January, Burney said.

The 48 units will be two stories tall with 134 parking spaces that include 96 individual garages. Each unit will be 1,800 square feet with selling prices between $350,000 and $390,000, according to city documents.

A dog park, pickle ball and basketball courts, playground, gazebo and recreational area are included in the subdivision plan. The density will be 9.08 units per acre, just slightly more than the nine-unit limit set by the city. The vacant property is about 5 acres and already is zoned as multifamily residential.

“I think this is going to be a great addition to the community,” Mayor Haig Haleblian said. “It’s long overdue. That property has been vacant for a long time.”

Multiple residents spoke out against the plan at last month’s planning and zoning meeting with concerns including traffic, stormwater and garbage pickup. Since then, developers responded to some of those concerns. They changed plans to have garbage pickup along Crabapple Drive and instead will have trucks enter the property and pick up refuse on the private drives, Crystal Lake Community Development Director Kathryn Cowlin said. City staff also confirmed the stormwater plan is approved by engineers.

Resident Norman Wentland said he still thinks the density is too high for the property. He argued the wetlands that developers will not build on should not be included in the density per acre calculations.

“Any unbuildable areas should reduce the amount of density,” he said. “If you allow the unbuildable areas to be reduced from that state, you have a total acreage of about 4, which allows you a maximum unit of 36.”

The city’s density calculations did put the stormwater area into consideration, Cowlin said.

Council member Mandy Montford said she appreciated the developers making changes based on residents’ concerns, including the creation of connecting private roads so all townhome owners have access to Huntley Road.

“This is a beautiful project,” she said. “I want to thank you for creating some of the prettiest elevations I’ve seen on townhomes anywhere.”

4900 S. Route 31

Developer Lennar Corp. will build 55 owner-occupied townhomes at the northeast corner of Route 31 and River Birch Boulevard. These will be an extension of Woodlore Townes at 4262 Route 176. Those 47 townhomes were approved by the city in September.

The developer aims to create 55 units in 11 buildings. All of the units are three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and have a two-car garage. In total, the property will have 228 parking spaces, including eight guest parking spots. The plan has a density of 6.7 units per acre, which is below the maximum nine units.

A price range estimate of the townhomes is expected to be in the “mid to upper” $300,000 range, Lennar Land Planning and Entitlements Manager Rick Murphy said.

The development is on the site of the Ambutal health care facility that was torn down in 2016. Ambutal was opened in 1978 by Sherman Hospital. The property, just over 8 acres, is zoned residential estate and will be rezoned to multifamily residential.

Residents raised concerns over the lack of open space and parks in the area at last month’s planning and zoning meeting. Council member Ian Philpot said he wanted to make sure families had plenty of outdoor playing areas.

The plan has a central open seating area and “very sizable” buffer space between the property and a new bike trail that will be next to Route 31, Murphy said.