Developer wants to build duplexes near Route 47 in Huntley. The Village Board isn’t thrilled.

The Huntley Village Board was lukewarm on the idea of duplexes along Route 47 near Talamore Boulevard and Ackman roads in the Talamore subdivision, with some trustees hoping to see that area developed with commercial uses.

A couple of nearby residents also opposed the proposal at a Village Board meeting Thursday, citing increased traffic, Route 47 access and crowding in the area, among other things.

Kathleen Anderson, who lives near the proposed development, said she “wasn’t looking to have multi-family homes right in my backyard.”

Anderson said she moved to McHenry County 32 years ago to move to the country, not to be in the suburbs.

“All this building is ridiculous. It’s too much, too much residential,” Anderson said, adding it would raise taxes. Municipal leaders often say new development brings some property tax relief to existing homeowners since more people share the tax burden.

Lennar, the developer behind Talamore, proposed building duplexes both north and south of Ackman Road and Talamore Boulevard on long-vacant land, though there is another property that separates the Ackman Road site and the Talamore Boulevard site.

Trustee Marilynn Berendt asked about the property between them, and Lennar representatives said they hadn’t approached the property owner.

John McFarland of Lennar said the company was trying to come up with some ideas to make the property “productive,” though he noted there was a lot of flexibility for development of the site.

The developer proposed 126 for-sale duplexes on just over 48 acres. The duplexes would be approximately 1,500 to 1,800 square feet, with anticipated starting selling prices of $350,000 to $425,000.

The land is zoned commercial, and some on the Village Board indicated they’d rather keep it open for potential retail use.

Said Trustee John Piwko: “If we allow this change to happen, that’s it,” adding Huntley would lose the chance to put anything else on the property, a scenario he said has happened elsewhere in town.

But Piwko was open to some of the property being used for residential.

But the land has been vacant for 20 years, and some board members raised the concern if the village held out for a commercial use, it might take another 20 years for something to come along.

Trustee Ric Zydorowicz said the development could bring in property tax revenues, as well as sales tax from purchases made by the new residents, to help the village pay expenses.

“Or this thing could just sit as vacant land getting us nothing out of it,” Zydorowicz said.

Trustee Don Walz also expressed concern about putting houses next to Route 47 and said there was a “balancing act” the village board has to do. He leaned more toward keeping it commercial.

Walz asked if the development would have multi-use paths that would connect to existing ones.

“It’s a big thing that we’re trying to do [in] the village,” Walz said.

McFarland said the company was “all for it” in response to Walz’s question.

Lennar officials also floated the idea of a single-family and active senior housing at the intersection of Main Street and Coyne Station Road.

That development would have 177 single-family homes, Huntley Director of Development Services Charlie Nordman told the Village Board said, 88 of which would be “age-targeted” Andare homes similar to other Andare homes in other parts of Talamore.

The single-family homes would range from about 2,100 to 3,200 square feet, Nordman said. The homes are expected to cost around $480,000 to $570,000.

The Andare homes would be just over 1,400 to just over 2,000 square feet and cost about $425,000 to $495,000, Nordman said.

The land, which Lennar representatives said they were under contract to buy, is on the other side of railroad tracks from the existing Talamore development, but Huntley would have to annex it. There’s also land between the proposed subdivision and the railroad tracks. Officials said they’re interested in annexing that too and keeping it agricultural for now.

The Village Board liked the plans for the single-family portion of the development, but officials noted that area gets backed up in the morning with traffic heading to Huntley High School to the west. Lennar representatives said most of the morning traffic is eastbound, though some of the officials noted some of traffic would be heading to schools.

Lennar officials also discussed steps they took to try to mitigate impacts to traffic, including a collector road system in the development. In addition to entrances off Main Street and Coyne Station Road, Charles H. Sass Parkway would be extended into the subdivision, but there are plans to put in a light at the parkway’s intersection with Main Street, Nordman said.

The Village Board didn’t vote on either plan Thursday.