An artist’s rendering of what a Town Center could look like at The Grove development proposed for Sugar Grove.
Courtesy of Crown Community Development
A Sugar Grove planning panel has recommended the plans for the controversial The Grove housing, industrial and commercial development to be built at I-88 and Route 47.
The Sugar Grove Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-2 Tuesday night to approve a planned development district and grant 38 variances from the village’s zoning code despite opposition from hundreds of people who attended a two-night meeting.
“Shame on you. Shame on you for not tabling this and at least looking into the concerns raised by your citizens over the last 12 hours,” said Bonnie Proctor of Sugar Grove. “Good God, if I pick my wallpaper for my bathroom, I take more time than you did.”
The public hearing portion began with a 6-hour session Monday, with a presentation by Crown Community Development and several hours of cross-examination and comments by people legally considered “interested parties” because they live within 250 feet of the proposed development.
Tuesday’s portion lasted about five hours, including public comment, followed by the commission asking questions and making requests for about an hour and 45 minutes.
Looking east to the intersection of I-88 and Route 47 in Sugar Grove, where Crown Community Development plans a large mixed-use development.
Brian Hill/bhill@dailyherald.com
The Grove would be built on 760 acres, according to Crown. Most of it would be east of Route 47.
Over and over, the speakers disputed Crown’s reports about the effect the development will have on traffic safety, air pollution, and groundwater.
Residents who live in nearby unincorporated areas and have their own wells said they fear that pollutants from runoff or leaking fuel tanks will contaminate their wells.
In addition, they worry that the village will install a well on the property, especially since one of the proposed uses is data centers, which are known to use large amounts of water in their cooling systems. They said a well could diminish the shallow aquifers the residents rely on for their water.
But a Crown representative said there will not be a well. The company will, however, build a 750,000-gallon water tank on the site.
Crown also disputed the accuracy of a Kane-DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District report that said much of the soil on site is unsuitable for building.
The planned development district will allow a 24-bay fueling station, which opponents call a truck stop. A Crown representative said it would not be a truck stop and agreed to impose restrictions preventing trucks from parking there overnight.
The restrictions also would prohibit the station from offering showers or having truck repair bays often found at truck stops.
While the land is not in the village, Crown has applied to annex it. That is why the village plan commission heard the zoning request.
The village board will have a public hearing on Tuesday on the annexation agreement request. It will start at 6 p.m. at the Academic and Professional Center at Waubonsee Community College, 4S783 Route 47, Sugar Grove.
The agreement is contingent on the village board establishing an 861-acre tax-increment financing district and signing a redevelopment agreement to pay for up to $350 million of the infrastructure work for the site, such as extending utilities to it, roadwork, and regrading the land. Any increase in property tax revenue resulting from the land being developed would be used to make the payments. Crown has said it would pay for the work upfront and be reimbursed by the TIF.
