Politics & Government

Economy Puts The Brakes On Dundee Road Subdivision

Developer seeks third extension on site plans from village board.

A sign staked in an empty field on Dundee Road proclaims that ranch-style homes are “coming soon.”

But a tough housing market has stalled plans for the proposed “Timber’s Edge” subdivision for months—and on Tuesday, developer KZF Development asked Northbrook’s board of trustees to extend the deadline for submitting final plans for the third time in the property’s history.

“Right now, the market is brutal,” said Daniel Zivin of KZF Development. “If we could sell it, we’d build it.”

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The site on Dundee Road has been vacant for more than five years, and had fallen into foreclosure when KZF bought the land from another developer in 2009. The former developer had planned to build a 12-home subdivision on the site in 2006, but obtained two extensions on final plans and never began construction. KZF is seeking a one-year extension.

In May of this year, KZF submitted a preliminary application for an 18-home plan including ranch and Cape Cod style houses ranging in size from 2,400 to 3,500 square feet. Along with that concept plan, KZF also submitted the prior developer’s plan for tree removal. The village board approved both documents. 

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Just a few days later, KZF bulldozed 187 of the 231 trees located on the property, in accordance with the tree plan. , when homeowners woke up one morning to see an empty expanse where once there was a field of trees.

“I just can’t comprehend how somebody could have issued a permit under these circumstances,” neighbor Laura Scholl told trustees at a board meeting May 24. “It was just an irresponsible decision.”

Scholl believes the trees should never have been cut down without a detailed, final construction plan to replace them ready to be executed.

But Development and Planning Services Director Tom Poupard said everything the developer and the village did was legal according to Northbrook’s municipal code, which includes a section devoted to tree removal and protection. Although most developers present a tree removal plan concurrently with a specific construction plan, the municipal code technically does not require the two to be submitted at the same time. If there will be construction going on, a construction protection plan is required, to ensure that trees will not be harmed. But in this case, there is no construction yet approved.  

As part of the tree plan, KZF has agreed to replace the trees that were cut down with new ones on the property or via funds donated to the village to plant trees elsewhere in the community. Until construction begins, however, the developers say they cannot go forward with planting the required trees on the property. For now, KZF has offered to plant two trees in each back yard of the neighbors along the south and west borders of the property. Scholl is among the homeowners who have taken the developers up on their offer.

Several nearby property owners have also complained to the village, arguing that the tree removal could cause additional storm drainage run-off. To address that issue, KZF is currently working to grade the site to prevent run-off problems.    

“That is now not a concern,” said village manager Richard Nahrstadt.

At Tuesday’s meeting, trustees were uniformly favorable toward KZF’s request to extend the deadline for submitting a final plan. 

“I just find it sad that our economy’s in such a condition that this developer, who’s never come to us with this type of situation before—it just goes to show you a little bit about our economy, that things are not moving,” said trustee Todd Heller.

KZF has worked with the village on several housing developments over the last two decades, including Meadow Ridge and Royal Ridge on Techny Road and Park Place Estates on Voltz Road. 

Trustees will vote on KZF’s request during the next board meeting, Nov. 8, as part of the consent agenda—a group of items voted on as a package that appear to have the unanimous support of trustees.

“We hope the next time we see this, it’s to go ahead and prepare a different type of document,” said Trustee A.C. Buehler III.


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