Hawthorn Woods opposing plan

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Preliminary Development Plan for the DiMucci Property. Source: Lake County Planning, Building and Development Department

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Updated: March 24, 2012 8:09AM

Hawthorn Woods village officials are not giving up the fight against the rezoning of the Dimucci Property, located at the southeast corner of Route 12 and Old McHenry Road in unincorporated Lake County.

According to information provided by the Lake County Planning Building and Development Department, the Dimucci family has submitted an application to Lake County to rezone their property to commercial with a conditional use permit for a planned unit development.

“Hawthorn Woods will continue to be part of the process,” said Hawthorn Woods Mayor Joseph Mancino.

“We will continue our
lobbying efforts with all elected officials and we will continue to consider all other options in dealing with this issue.”

According to Lake County documents, the applicant is planning for the future development of the site. Lake County Planning Building and Development and the applicant have worked for many months on an extensive design plan consisting of almost 250 specific design conditions, including lighting, building setbacks, parking, building height, natural resource protection and open space features, floor area and impervious surface.

Pat Tierney, principal planner in Lake County’s Planning Building and Development department, said the plans presented show 800,000 square-feet of floor area and no more than 53 acres of impervious surface area, though there is no specific building plan. The property is about 108 acres.

“There isn’t a physical building plan right now being proposed,” Tierney said.

Mancino said the Village Board voted unanimously against rezoning the property earlier this month, saying the proposed development isn’t consistent with an intergovernmental agreement between the village and North Barrington. That agreement spells out revenue sharing between villages, an agreement that Hawthorn Woods would be the village to annex the property and what type of development both villages would like to see, and would agree to allow, on that property.

“It’s being completely disregarded,” Mancino said. The original intergovernmental agreement was approved in 1999 and was amended in 2003.

Mancino said Dimucci’s application asks for allowance of retail double in height and double in square footage than what the villages want.

“In this case, they’ve applied for a PUD, but there is no plan,” Mancino said. “There’s no plan at all. When you have a PUD... you need to have plans, not ideas.”

Lake County will host three open houses on the property in the coming weeks. The first is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon on March 3, with two more from 5 p.m.-8 p.m. March 21 and March 27. All will be held at Concorde Banquets, 20922 N. Rand Road in Kildeer.

The application is the first step in the process. Following the upcoming open houses in March that will allow for public information and input, the Regional Planning Commission will take public comment, review the proposal and make a recommendation to the County Board.

Following the Regional Planning Commission recommendation, the Zoning Board of Appeals will also take public input and make a recommendation to the County Board, which will make a final decision on the application.

All county board meetings are open to the public and posted on the county’s website, www.lakecountyil.gov.

“The village is encouraging all residents to make their comments heard in front of the commissions that are empowered to vote on this proposal,” Mancino said.