Affordable housing development in Elgin gets council approval, despite opposition
A new affordable townhouse development is one step closer to coming to Elgin's northwest side, despite objections from neighbors.
The proposed Gifford's Crossing development would bring 36 townhouses to the north side of Big Timber, just east of Randall Road and across from the Big Timber Metra station.
Elgin City Council members voted 7-1 this week to give preliminary approval to zoning changes that would allow the not-for-profit Burton Foundation to pursue the $23.1 million project.
Burton Foundation is an Elgin-based group whose mission is to create and preserve quality affordable housing for families and seniors of low- and moderate-income. The foundation has built 20 affordable housing developments since 1992, including Waters Edge of South Elgin.
A final vote on the zoning request for Gifford's Crossing will happen at an upcoming meeting.
The 36-unit development would include 13 two-bedroom, 18 three-bedroom and five four-bedroom townhouses ranging from 1,900 to 2,100 square feet, each with a two-car garage and driveway.
Potential residents of Gifford's Crossing would need to fall below certain income limits to qualify - roughly $66,180 for a family of four. Rents would range from $970 to $1,221.
The city says the development would have less density per acre than the surrounding communities of Spring Oaks and Wynstone.
But residents of those neighborhoods say the new development is being shoehorned into a space that should remain zoned for single-family homes. They fear a loss of privacy and exacerbation of flooding problems they've been experiencing for years.
More than a dozen neighbors spoke during a Wednesday public hearing on the zoning change.
"It saddens me that this would even be considered," Spring Oaks Homeowners Association President Melissa Young said. "And believe me, I have nothing against affordable housing."
But she says she doesn't believe the Big Timber site is the right location for the proposed townhouse development.
"Helping others while punishing the people that are already in this area makes no sense to me," Young said. "It's going to be a devastating loss for our community."
City officials say they were satisfied the new development would not increase the flooding problems in Spring Oaks and that the release rate of a new retention pond could improve the situation.
Council member Carol Rauschenberger asked engineers working with the Burton Foundation if their stormwater management plan could "hopefully" help ease flooding issues in Spring Oaks.
"Hopefully is not my plan," engineer Jim Meier said. "Definitely is my answer."
The Burton Foundation said they would also provide a 20-foot easement for the neighborhood should they opt to install stormwater devices to ease their issue.
Council member Rose Martinez cast the lone dissenting vote. She said she'd prefer to see improvements to the existing aging inventory of affordable housing in Elgin.
"It is needed," Martinez said. "But it's about time, maybe, that other communities should step up to the plate and have affordable housing in their area."