When Andrew Teegan brought his ideas to the McHenry City Council on May 4 for finishing up the Oaks at Irish Prairie housing development, the council said it wanted to see lower density and more parking there.

At the June 1 meeting, Teegan’s ADL Associates, in partnership with Ryan Homes, came back with a plan that drops the number of homes there from 362 units to 335. The latest proposal suggests 181 singe family homes and 154 townhomes on the property at Barreville Road and Veterans Parkway.

The council was mixed on whether the density and parking was improved enough by the updated plan but overall showed support. A vote was not held as the development is only in concept phase.

The city staff’s report to council on the development also noted much of its traffic would come off Route 31 at Veterans Parkway and touched on the upcoming project to widen Route 31, set to start in 2027.

“The city has been actively pursuing the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection of Veterans Parkway and ... 31,” according to the report.

According to June 2 email from Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Maria Castaneda to Shaw Local, the Route 31 project will include a new traffic signal at Veterans Parkway. Half Mile and Edgewood roads in Prairie Grove will also see new signal lights.

The Teegan/Ryan Homes development has been planned for over two decades.

The 78-acre parcel Oaks at Irish Prairie section was originally annexed into McHenry in 2005 and was supposed to be the third and fourth phases of the Oaks at Irish Prairie development, according to the planning and zoning department’s report to council. That builder, Town and Country Homes, declared bankruptcy in 2008 and did not complete the project.

Back then, the plan was for 189 homes there, said Alderman Andy Glab, 2nd Ward.

“As far as I am concerned, this development is way too dense,” Glab said of the latest proposal. “This whole area was supposed to be single-family homes.”

Teegan said the new plan includes changes to appeal to potential buyers, including homes with three-car garages, and two-car garages with space for two cars in the driveway for the townhomes.

The original plan offered one-car garages for the townhomes.

“We came up with a plan with two-car garages in the townhomes” that rear-load with driveways facing each other, Teegan said.

He also offered to give parks inside the development to the city – another ask from the previous meeting – with a corresponding decrease in park impact fees.

Guest parking for the townhomes would be in the driveways, Teegan said, with a limited amount of guest parking in a turnaround spot at the end of each townhome block.

“I think it is a nice addition” to the community, said 7th Ward Alderwoman Sue Miller, who also is a Realtor. She noted that Wonder Lake’s Stonewater, also developed by Teegan, has similar townhomes in its first phase, and those have been sold out.

“It is a product that people want,” Miller said. “I am very pleased that you took the wish list that we gave you and incorporated that.”