Aurora officials are moving plans ahead for the Habitat for Humanity Green Freedom subdivision on the far West Side of the city.
The subdivision will include 17 Habitat for Humanity homes of between 1,500 and 1,700 square feet on an 8.5-acre site between Lindenwood Avenue and Jericho Road.
The homes would be built along Garden Avenue, which would extend from Garden Road and Lindenwood Avenue in unincorporated Aurora Township to Jericho Road.
Aurora aldermen this week moved ahead on an easement between Aurora and Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity for properties at 1900 Jericho Road and the southwest corner of Jericho Road and South Edgelawn Drive.
The easement will be on the consent agenda at next week’s City Council meeting, meaning it is likely to be approved.
Last week, the council’s Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee approved the final plat and plan for the subdivision.
The subdivision has received a lot of attention because it will be a “smart neighborhood,” the first affordable, net zero subdivision in the country, developers say.
It’s also a rare partnership between utilities – gas and electric – to create the net zero element of the housing, meaning the subdivision will use only as much energy, overall, as it generates. It is a carbon neutral situation that can be achieved by combining natural gas and electric resources, officials have said.
It’s a first for Habitat for Humanity, too, which traditionally has built houses one at a time, not an entire subdivision at once.
There was concern from nearby residents in the unincorporated Westway subdivision about traffic and drainage in the area, as well as the location of a water main for the subdivision.
Jason Owens, Aurora Township highway commissioner, told aldermen on the committee that he has the “sole authority” to approve the water main location if it’s along Lindenwood Avenue, a township road, and he would not approve it, because residents have said they don’t want it there.
Jason Bauer, Aurora’s assistant public works director, said this week the water main would loop to provide the subdivision with water, and also would improve fire service in the entire area, because of the ability to locate new fire hydrants.
He said the city did provide traffic study information to the township showing there would not be much impact.
He said wherever the water main is located “doesn’t affect the plat” or the plans for the subdivision.
slord@tribpub.com