Smaller, less dense LaFox of Campton Hills poised for annexation

CAMPTON HILLS – In a departure from the contentious now-dead project of Settlements of LaFox’s more than 2,000 homes in St. Charles, the village of Campton Hills is poised for a smaller, less dense annexation.

Geneva developer Shodeen Group this week petitioned the village to annex 962 acres, 900 dwelling units – 700 of them single-family – and 440 acres of open space.

A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, June 26 at Village Hall, 40W270 LaFox Road, Campton Hills.

The entire acreage would be in the Geneva 304 School District. The proposed annexation is on the agenda for the school board’s meeting on Monday.

This proposal is a far cry from last year’s contention over Atlanta-based developer Pulte Homes’ 970-acre annexation petition. As a result, the city of St. Charles declined to review the project.

David Patzelt, president of Shodeen Group, said if officials agree to the annexation, the next step would be to seek to rezone the farmland for the residential development.

“The most significant aspect of the [planned unit development] is that we would have approximately 440 acres of open space,” Patzelt said.

The open space would be north of the Mill Creek greenway and east of the Johnson Mound Run, Patzelt said.

What is even more impressive, said Drew Frasz, former county board member and president of the LaFox Civic Organization, is that 39% of the residential area will be devoted to open space. That would boost the total open space to 512 acres.

The LaFox organization fought Pulte and St. Charles over the density and land use proposed last year.

“It was a pleasant change to have the developer start with us and the community to find out what’s important to us,” Frasz said.

Frasz said he encouraged collaboration.

“Essentially, we told Dave if we could work something out – do something as partners rather than adversaries. I call it reverse development. We sat down with Dave and said, ‘How about X number of homes and 440 acres of open space?’" Frasz said. “It made us realize that we have always been partners with Campton Hills and shared the same exact philosophy about open space and smart development.”

Campton Hills Village President Barbara Wojnicki also previously served on the County Board with Frasz and was also part of the LaFox organization for 25 years, he said.

“Barb offered us the option of annexing,” Frasz said. “Why not? Instead of having to beg for the future of our community, we wanted to have a say in our community. ... We’re just thrilled to be at 900 homes and open space numbers off the chart. ... We never thought we would find a developer to do something of such reasonable size and it’s just been a pleasure.”

Campton Hills Village Administrator Mark Rooney also praised the process that led to this new proposal.

“This is the very first development in my 30 years in the business where all of the interest groups are all pulling on the oar and rowing the boat in the same direction,” Rooney said.