Sycamore OKs land annexation

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SYCAMORE - The Sycamore City Council voted Monday to annex more than 6 acres along Plank Road, after a discussion in which one alderman distributed pages of his own fact-finding and a resident leveled accusations that the city manager called “zany.” The annexation passed by a vote of 6-3, with 1st Ward Alderman Rich Neubauer, 3rd Ward Alderwoman Grace Adee and 4th Ward Alderman Darren Knuth dissenting and Mayor Ken Mundy casting the decisive two-thirds vote. The land in question is a pie-shaped 6.25 acres owned by Jack and Darla Mapes. The property is surrounded by land already annexed and zoned for future housing. Most of the Mapes farm was annexed in 2004, but the family retained the portion of the land that included their house. There is no proposal for the property at this time, but the Mapeses hope to merge the parcel with 3.24 acres to the north owned by B&B Development for a future townhouse development. One of the three residents who spoke against the annexation was Ann Scharlau, who said that the annexation of the initial farm and the two adjoining it was done illegally and that both the first and second Mapes property annexations violate the city's unified development ordinance. The annexations were first rejected, then accepted without planning commission review, and a required period of time between annexation requests had not been observed, she said. City Manager Bill Nicklas said the allegations were “zany,” and suggested Scharlau submit her assertions in writing so the city attorney can review them and issue a written response. “When you cherry-pick a body of law to make a point, the facts can become distorted, and that's what happened here,” Nicklas said. Neubauer said he didn't find Scharlau's points “zany” and suggested that Nicklas “stick to the facts and not insult people.” Later in the meeting, Neubauer spent nearly 10 minutes reading statistics from a handout he distributed before the meeting to show the negative impact a new townhouse development will have on city infrastructure and schools. Neubauer, who won his council seat on a slow-growth platform last year, said there is no reason to annex more land with thousands of already-approved homes still unbuilt. The handout contained his own fact-finding from several sources, including an impact study commissioned by the city last year. While Nicklas quoted the study to establish that only 9 percent of townhomes occupied in the city in the last three years included schoolchildren, Neubauer said the same study showed that the units average a little less than half a child each, which he estimated could cost the district $1.2 million in education costs. Alderwoman Terry Kessler, 4th Ward, pointed out that Neubauer's figures did not include the amount of property tax the units would generate. Later, Mayor Mundy said he had received a letter from Luke Glowiak, superintendent of finance for the Sycamore School District, supporting the annexation because it would have little or no negative impact and would generate more tax revenue. “Just because an annexation occurs does not mean (a developer) is free to do whatever he wants,” Mundy said. “The bar is quite high. Whatever the plan turns out to be, it will have to come back before the planning commission and come back here and be approved again.” No plans to develop the property are likely to come back before the council for some time, planner Chuck Hanlon said on behalf of the petitioners. The annexation will just allow developers to plan better by consolidating water detention areas and removing a driveway and curb cuts from Plank Road, he said. Adee exhorted the council to consider the importance of preserving farmland and green space before approving the annexation. “We do not want to cover up everything with houses and buildings,” she said. Alderman Pete Paulsen, 2nd Ward, replied that the 6-acre homestead already has buildings on it and is surrounded by developed land. Neubauer's fellow 1st Ward alderman, Alan Bauer, said he had “great respect” for a nonbinding 2004 referendum that recommended the city not annex any more land until 2011. To balance individual rights with the greater good, he said, some annexations need to be turned down - but he added he had “no problem” with the Mapes property annexation. Reporter Dana Herra can be reached at dherra@dailly-chronicle.com.