Cary residents push back against proposed development that would extend street to Route 31

Residents of a Cary subdivision are speaking out against a proposed development nearby that would connect New Haven Drive to Route 31, saying it would disrupt their community.

The preliminary plan on about 37 acres includes almost six acres of commercial space and 396 units of “luxury” rental housing with a dog park, pool house, pickleball courts and other amenities, located east of Route 31, south of the Walmart Supercenter in Crystal Lake and north of Hoffman Park. A conceptual review for the plan received an enthusiastic green light from the Cary Village Board in December.

Milwaukee-based Fiduciary Real Estate Development proposes three access points, two that would connect only the new development to Route 31. For a northern access point, village documents show New Haven Drive being extended west to Route 31 with a full intersection.

Cary resident David Arvans created an online petition on Change.org protesting against the throughway onto New Haven Drive. As of Sunday, the petition had 356 signatures.

“New Haven Drive is a peaceful residential area, and turning it into a thoroughfare would profoundly alter the character of our neighborhoods,” the petition states. “Increased traffic can lead to dangerous situations for children playing, pedestrians and cyclists. With no current infrastructure plans to support such an increase, the risk of accidents will rise substantially, threatening the peaceful charm of our community.”

Arvans, who lives in the Cambria neighborhood next to the proposed development, also said he’s concerned about the effects of noise and air pollution from extra traffic.

At a Village Board meeting earlier this month, area resident Tina Napolitano said she’s worried about increased traffic interrupting the neighborhood and a possible negative impact on property values.

“The street design and neighborhood is not conducive to handling increased volumes of traffic, and this would definitely pose a safety risk,” she said. “School buses are making frequent stops there all day long during the school year, and outside the school year, kids are outside playing.”

Napolitano suggested the village should instead open the shoulder lane at the corner of Three Oaks Road and Route 31 intersection to ease traffic, or extend Lutter Drive to Route 31.

The village identified the extension of New Haven to Route 31 in its 2015 Comprehensive Plan as a recommendation for improving mobility, Community Development Director Brian Simmons said.

“Traffic management measures would need to be installed on New Haven Drive at Savoy Lane to deter traffic from cutting through the neighborhood,” village officials said in the comprehensive plan. ”These measure could include the installation of a barrier allowing vehicular access from the neighborhood but not back into the neighborhood."

Earlier this year, the village conducted a New Haven Drive traffic study, which found the number of cars using the road decreased from a 2017 study, Cary Mayor Mark Kownick said. About 85% of the traffic is at or below 28 mph on the 25 mph road, he said.

Once developers submit a formal proposal, another traffic study will be conducted to see possible future impacts of a roadway extension.

According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, more than 20,000 cars pass the site on Route 31 daily, creating an opportunity for future business tenants, developers said in their proposal to the Village Board.

Developers hosted a public open house in April. No staff or elected officials were there because they didn’t want to deter “honest and open” conversations between developers and the community, Kownick said.

“They did get some good feedback from that, which they relayed to me,” Simmons said. “They’re making some modifications to their plan based on that feedback.”

Developers propose 22 two-story buildings with a mix of one, two and three bedrooms. The plan would need a density variation because it goes over the village’s nine-units-per-acre maximum with 12.8 units per acre, village documents state.

Cary resident James Voll also expressed concerns that the influx of residents, including the newly built Springs at Three Oaks 280-unit townhome complex behind Walmart, will put a strain on police, fire and other village services. He suggested gating off the Cambria community to ward off drivers cutting through the subdivision.

The newly proposed, $110 million development is estimated to have an economic impact of almost $40 million in consumer spending generated by new residents over 10 years. Impact fee revenue is estimated at about $2.7 million, according to developer documents.

The townhouse-style structures would feature a mix of attached and detached garages and surface parking. Amenities would include a 24-hour fitness center, media lounge, dog park, car-care and dog-wash stations and a resort-style pool and sun deck. Courtyards and vegetation would be placed along the development’s eastern edge as a buffer to the Cambria subdivision.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us,” Kownick said in December. “We are lacking this type of housing in the village of Cary, and to bring something like this to our western border is an unbelievable opportunity.”

Adding that the development would be reflective of Cary’s quaint, charming look, Kownick said the proposal is “something that we can get behind.”

Currently, the space is zoned as a shopping center business district. The developer is asking for the residential portion to be rezoned as planned-unit development and could potentially appear before the village’s Board of Zoning, Planning and Appeals this summer, Simmons said.

Any future meetings or open houses will be posted on the village’s website, online newsletter and signs in the neighboring community, Kownick said.

“We’re doing everything we can behind the scenes,” he said.