Village Board Minutes

NORTH AURORA VILLAGE BOARD MEETING
VILLAGE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Village Board meeting was conducted live remotely
via telecommunications.

CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Berman called the meeting to order.

SILENT PRAYER – MEDITATION – PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

ROLL CALL
In attendance: Mayor Dale Berman, Trustee Mark Gaffino, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Mark Guethle, Trustee Mark Carroll, Trustee Martinez. Absent: Trustee Laura Curtis

Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Bill Hannah, Community & Economic Development Director Mike Toth, Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Public Works Director John Laskowski, Police Chief Dave Fisher.

PUBLIC HEARING – Third Amendment to the Annexation Agreement for the Moose Lake Estates Subdivision

Community & Economic Development Director Mike Toth opened the hearing and summarized the proposal for the amendment to the annexation agreement and Scott Barrenbrugge, Vice President of Land from M/I Homes, summarized a meeting he had with the Moose Lake Estates Homeowners Association on October 2 and noted they would be willing to attend the next HOA meeting on December 1. He reiterated M/I Homes’ designs for the homes and noted they agreed to restrict the 21 lots that share a side-yard lot line with an existing home to 2-story homes only rather than the ranch model. Following Trustee comments, Barenbrugge said all of the homes would have brick, but noted there would be standard vinyl siding as well. The model homes they’d be displaying would have all the bells and whistles with an approximate price tag of $500,000, but said the more typical home would go for around $400,000. The hearing was then opened for public comment.

The following are comments made by residents, denoted by name and address.

Brian LoCicero, 466 Pheasant Hill Drive – Wanted the Village Board to table or reject the amendment and said smaller homes should not be allowed in Moose Lake Estates. He said the proposed plans would allow homes only one third the size of the homes currently existing there.

Vince Mancini, 526 Mallard Pointe Drive– Noted the estate zoning was designed to diversify the housing stock in the Village to bring in larger homes with more architectural elements. He said he did want the subdivision to be completed but felt that “we can do better,” and said the developer should meet design standards of previous homes, even if they are smaller.

Mrs. Pierre, 533 North Sycamore Lane – Said the current plan will drop the values of homes in the development and said there was a difference between the aesthetic appeal of a custom home and “standard” home.

James Tollios, 540 North Sycamore – Said many models M/I Homes has nationwide could fit into the existing architecture, but the ones proposed do not and “stick out like sore thumbs.”

Aaron Brown, 487 Mount Court (HOA President) – Said building something just to build it out is worse than leaving it vacant and that smaller houses will look “silly” for existing and future homeowners. Similar or somewhat similar homes should be built in square footage and materials.

Steve Roggeman, 454 Mallard Pointe Drive – Moved to Moose Lake Estates from Pine Creek for the larger homes and wants it to remain that way.

Maria Geriane, 538 Mallard Point Drive – This is the third home she bought in North Aurora and moved there because of the larger homes. She is concerned about the BBB accreditation for M/I Homes as the 33 reviews leave a rating of 1.27 out of 5.

Rebecca Hernandez, 536 Mallard Pointe Drive – Said other communities require higher end aesthetics to raise values and the plan being proposed is not the same. The neighborhoods need to be kept aesthetically similar.

Pablo Hernandez, 536 Mallard Pointe Drive – Noted he is an architect and the craftsman style homes do not even remotely complement the existing aesthetics and that existing home values will decrease if homes are half the size or smaller are built there and said putting a 1,600 square foot home next to a 4,200 square foot home makes no sense.

Norma Yario, 424 Sycamore Lane– She is a realtor and has experienced the challenge of trying to sell the Moose Lake homes for the value they should have. She is concerned about decrease in the values further and said people are coming out from the city looking for bigger homes.

Vince Tessitore, 394 Pheasant Hill Drive – Said the proposed homes are entirely inconsistent with the neighborhood and the architectural standards that exist. He is extremely disappointed and said he wants architectural standards and minimum house sizes.

Sean Ferguson, 503 Prairie Ridge Lane – Moved into Moose Lake Estates a year ago and came from a smaller home to a bigger home. He likes the current feel of the neighborhood and doesn’t want to see cookie cutter homes.

Brenda Hotvedt, 337 Pheasant Hill Drive – Said almost every home in Moose Lake Estates has 60%-70% brick or stone and is concerned about the quality of M/I Homes.

Lynn Antis, 525 Sycamore Lane – Moved from Winfield because of the stature of the homes and neighborhood and doesn’t believe that asking this builder to modify their plans will be enough.

Mike Herlihy, 445 Sycamore Lane (HOA Board Member) – Noted that when the Village went through a lot of growth and development that a lot of thought was put into planning out the Village. He said they planned Moose Lake Estates area as a step-up area for people who wanted to move up in housing and stay in the Village. It built out fast from 2003 to 2009 when the recession hit. Original homeowners have lost $100k-$200k from what they paid. He said he researched M/I Homes and sees that they have built developments that would be complementary, but he was surprised to see the proposed product and said the build out of 65-70 sub-standard houses that are proposed will devalue the existing homes.

Gerard McShane, 453 Sycamore Lane – Said residents bought in at $500k-$600k homes and lost a lot of equity and doesn’t want to see values decreased further. He said the current homeowners deserve equivalent value.

Jakob Cabala, 393 Pheasant Hill Drive– Said the proposed plan will be detrimental to the residents of Moose Lake and none of the plans match curb appeal, size, or quality in any way.

Chris Parkin, 411 Prairie Ridge Lane – Said the HOA has held properties to the highest standards, and now are bringing in a builder who proposes to bring in a product that is sub-standard. He also said no notice was given and wants to know what deal was already approved and said the process was hearsay.

Becky Damato, 480 Mount Court – She chose the subdivision because of the custom, estate-style, well-built homes and said the plans proposed could be built in any other subdivision in the area, but the standards don’t fit here.

Jahnia Seraphin, 210 Larchwood – Said the proposals don’t fit the neighborhood.

Jeff Hedrick, 538 Prairie Ridge Lane, – Said approval of this plan will delegitimize the prior planning process.

Trustees Lowery, Guethle, Gaffino and Martinez agreed with the residents and Mayor Berman pulled items 4 and 5 off of new business. Trustee Guethle said the items needed to go back to the Committee of the Whole.

Vince Rosanova, M/I Homes Attorney, said he felt there was a misunderstanding of what M/I Homes was requesting. He said they were not asked to change the zoning and their plans are 100% compliant with zoning standards, of which there are no square foot requirements. The said M/I Homes could pull 68 permits and build 68 homes today with no square footage limitations and they have a right to the Unit III Plat approved because it is built into the Annexation Agreement that was already approved; they were only seeking clarity on the punch list and smaller details and to lock in existing fees. They reached out to the HOA and desired to work with them.

Barrenbrugge, Vice President of Land from M/I Homes, said that the market has changed and there is no code provision that requires a certain square footage or design. He said they cannot agree to a minimum 3,000 square feet, but could take out the three smallest plans from the proposed 11, which he does not know if that will win over the residents objecting to the subdivision, but it could be done to have a viable development.

Village of North Aurora Attorney Kevin Drendel noted that M/I Homes is not asking for any changes to the PLAT, engineering or zoning and the only notice residents would be required to receive is if there were zoning changes. They were only looking to a few items in the Amendment to the Annexation Agreement and that the Village has little say in the matter. He said the owner could sell off a few lots here and there to different builders and they would have the right to build whatever they wanted on those lots within the existing zoning parameters.

PRESENTATION –Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) Presentation – Lauterbach and Amen

AUDIENCE COMMENTS – See above for Public Hearing
TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None

CONSENT AGENDA

1. Village Board Minutes dated 11/02/2020 and Committee of the Whole Minutes dated 11/02/2020
2. Bills List Dated 11/16/2020 in the Amount of $184,712.42