Nineteen new homes are to be built near Ingalls Avenue and Plainfield Road, an area that hasn't seen much large-scale residential construction in years.
The approved plans Monday for the Raynor Park Homes subdivision, which is going in on a little less than four acres of land where Raynor Park School stood until it was demolished in 2006. The site is bounded by Curtis, Hosmer, Norley and Burry streets.
This is the second version of the subdivision, the first having been proposed by Riverdale Recycling and approved by the council in 2006. That project stalled when the developer lost his financing, City Manager Tom Thanas said.
The new developer is Anthony Perino of Brookmere Development, who plans to offer a variety of home styles -- ranch, raised ranch and two-story -- that will range in size from 1,200 to 1,670 square feet. Prices will run from $130,000 to $170,000.
Perino requested, and received, council approval for two variations from the original plan: the elimination of the 8:12 roof pitch requirement and an easing on the number of homes featuring 50 percent brick facades.
However, a request to waive the development impact fee of $4,000 for each of the new homes was abandoned. That money pays for city sewer and water connection costs and school site fees paid to Joliet Grade School District 86 and Joliet Township High School District 204.
The higher roof pitch is more costly to build, and is higher than the surrounding homes in the neighborhood, Thanas said. As for the brick facades, only half of the 19 homes will need to have 50 percent brick facades, which complies with the current city ordinance, he said.
In both cases, the more expensive requirements were set by the city when it was in the midst of a building boom and dozens of new subdivisions were being constructed on the far west side of town. That's no longer the case.
The project was also presented at a neighborhood meeting attended by 40 residents, none of whom opposed the project, Thanas said.
