Journal & Topics Media Group

Village Grows By 300 Acres

Annex Extends Palatine’s Southern Border To I-90

Palatine Village Hall, 200 E. Wood St. (Journal photo)

Palatine Village Council voted unanimously on Monday (Sept. 14) to approve its biggest annexation in years, adding over 300 acres of mostly vacant land.

The piece of land is located across Algonquin Road from Harper College, reaching as far south as Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90). The land belongs to the Catholic Cemeteries of Chicago, a unit of the Catholic Church of Chicago, but only a portion of the land closest to the intersection of Algonquin and Roselle roads is used for the St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery and Mausoleum.

Upon annexation, the entire property is zoned as R-1 residential, which wouldn’t affect the cemetery and would limit any development to single-family homes no taller than 40 feet. Mayor Jim Schwantz described the annexation as a win for Palatine due to the sheer size of the parcel, which he expects to get plenty of interest from developers.

The land includes the cemetery and all of the vacant areas between Algonquin Road on the north, Roselle Road on the west, parts of Central Road and the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway on the south, and the border with Schaumburg on the east.

Prior to the annexation, services were provided by Palatine Township, the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District and Cook County. Under Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, the county has been urging municipalities to annex nearby unincorporated land.

Ben Vyverberg, Palatine’s director of planning and zoning, told the village council that, for the past 20 years, annexations have been “few and far between,” but nothing of this size.

In their application, Catholic Cemeteries didn’t specify why they requested the annexation, but a staff report to the council said that they were looking to tie St. Michael Cemetery into planned water service improvements around Harper College.

According to the Palatine zoning guide, property that falls under R-1 zoning must contain lots that are no more than 12,000 square feet, with buildings covering no more than 25% of the lot. The buildings must be no taller than 2-1/2 stories, with mid-point capped at 30 feet and overall height capped at 40 feet. Building anything beyond that would require a zoning change, which would require village council approval.

The parcel has been incorporated into village council District 2, which includes most of Palatine south of the Union Pacific Northwest Line tracks represented by Councilman Scott Lamerand. Any homes that are built there will fall within Hunting Ridge Elementary School, Plum Grove Junior High School and Conant High School attendance boundaries.

While most of Palatine falls within Cook County Board of Commissioners District 14 currently represented by Commissioner Scott Britton, this parcel is currently represented by Kevin Morrison (D-15).

Schwantz said that the village has no immediate plans for the property, but he expects it to attract development.

“This is a huge win,” he said. “I don’t think people realize that 300 acres don’t come around very often, as councilman [Doug] Myslinski said. There were a couple of suitors for this property, and this is Palatine winning one.”

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