Plans moving forward for 113-unit townhouse development proposed on Oswego’s west side

Plans for a 113-unit townhouse development on the village’s west side are moving ahead

Oswego planning and zoning commissioners unanimously recommended approval of preliminary plans for the development during their April 10 meeting. Village trustees will now review the plans.

The project is a continuation of the Pine Ridge Club development, which was approved by the village in 2005. The 2008 nationwide recession halted the project.

Silverthorne Homes wants to build a 113-unit townhouse development on 22.53 acres at the northeast and northwest corners of Mill Road and Heatherwood Drive.

The property is zoned R-5 Multiple-Unit Dwelling District, and is currently vacant but has underground utilities installed in accordance with currently approved plans for Pine Ridge Club, Assistant Development Services Director Rachel Riemenschneider said in a memo to commissioners.

During a public hearing, a few residents already living in the subdivision voiced concerns the development would add to parking problems in the area. Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Charlie Pajor addressed those concerns.

“I know you have a current issue with parking availability in your portion of the development,” Pajor said in addressing one of the residents. “The new development is less likely to cause overflow issues for you because they have more parking per unit than you folks currently have per unit. So that’s one advantage to the new development. They shouldn’t create a bigger problem for you. People will do what people do. You can only control so much.”

Carrie Hansen, Director of Planning and Government Services for Oswego-based Schoppe Design Associates, Inc., agreed with Pajor’s assessment of the situation.

“We are proposing more than double what the village’s code requires,” she said. “Each of our units has a two-car garage and two parking spaces in front of those two spaces, for four per unit.”

In addition, Hansen said there will be guest parking scattered throughout the development, which the nearby residents can use.

In 2005, the village approved plans for the Pine Ridge Club condominium development. Plans called for the construction of 16 condo buildings with 16 units each, for a total of 256 units.

By the end of 2008, a clubhouse at the far west side of the property had been built along with four buildings with 16 condo units, for a total of 64 units. Four garage structures have also been built on the property.

The new plans call for the construction of 113 townhouse units – 31 single-story ranch villas and 82 conventional two-story rear-load townhouses – next to the property that has already been developed. The 113 townhouse units would be spread out across 30 buildings.

The 31 ranch villa units would be built in the development’s first phase and the 82 townhouse units would be built in the second phase.

“Housing has evolved in the past 17 years since the original approval,” Hansen told commissioners. “The proposed townhome units reflect the current market, with two different product lines addressing different Oswego housing needs.”

Pajor said the new plans are better than the previously approved plans.

“From an overall planning perspective, this is a much better plan than the original,” he said.