Oswego commission backs plans for 811-housing unit development south of Wolf’s Crossing Road

The village of Oswego’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously Aug.4 to recommend approval of concept plans for a 227 acre, 811 unit housing development at the southwest corner of Wolf’s Crossing and Roth Roads.

The concept plans are expected to go before the Village Board for final approval Aug. 23.

Chris Funkhouser, land acquisition manager and representative of developer D.R. Horton, project developers, detailed the concept plans for Sonoma Trails, consisting of 490 single family homes, 247 multi family townhomes and 74 duplexes.

D.R. Horton has been the largest homebuilder in the U.S. since 2002, and reports 81,469 homes closed in the past 12 months, according to their website.

Funkhouser told the PZC that Sonoma Trails is one of the developer’s largest new projects in the Chicago division, and they would like to break ground early 2023.

Funkhouser said everything in Sonoma Trails from the street names to the landscape will pull from the look and feel of the vineyards and estates of wine country, with streets named after vineyards and trees chosen to emulate the region.

The concept plans features four “pocket parks,” three miles of trails, 57 acres of open community space and a 12 acre community site featuring a private pool house and park for residents.

The firm is still in discussion with the Oswegoland Park District on the size and maintenance of the pocket parks.

Funkhouser detailed plans for five types of neighborhoods. Of the 811 total dwellings, there are two neighborhoods of townhomes totaling 274 units, one neighborhood of duplexes totaling 74 units, and nine neighborhoods made up of three types of single family homes totaling 490 houses.

Two of the single family neighborhoods feature 30 foot wide homes on 40 foot wide lots. Chairman of the planning and zoning commission, Charles Pajor, raised concern as to the density in those neighborhoods.

“I’ve never heard of 40 foot lots,” Pajor said. “While I love all the shared green space, that concerns me. For a detached single family home, that’s a pretty small lot.”

Rod Zenner, the village’s development service director, confirmed that the village does not currently have any neighborhoods of that density.

Funkhouser said the decreased lot size for those two neighborhoods allowed them to provide an additional type of housing opportunity and an increased amount communal of open space.

“I love the concept of the open space and the trails,” Pajor said. “From that standpoint, I think you’re doing really good.”

The site is currently undeveloped land, with the northeast portion zoned as residential and annexed into the village in 2006.

Funkhouser told officials the development would start in the northeast corner, work west and then south, to allow them to begin development on all five types of homes immediately.