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City Council signed off on denser zoning last week for a 10-acre slice of land near U.S. 290, framing the move as a practical step to support Elgin’s expanding road network.
The property at 14201 Klaus Lane, west of the Briarwood Subdivision, will be rezoned from R-1 to R-2, permitting duplexes and smaller minimum lot sizes of 7,500 square feet.
City officials said the rezoning supports the city’s long-range thoroughfare plan, which calls for a major collector road to run through the parcel. Development Services Director Beau Perry told council members the road layout makes higher-density housing more feasible.
“That roadway has to be built,” Perry said. “That would probably leave the property undevelopable for single-family housing because you’re not going to get enough lots there to justify the cost of that collector road.”
The land was annexed into city limits in late 2022 and had been under the city’s default zoning for newly added parcels.
Perry stressed that the zoning vote did not grant approval for any specific construction plan.
“This is not a planned development district—you’re not voting on a specific project,” he said. “You are voting on whether R-1 should be changed to R-2 zoning for this particular land.”
The city’s ordinances prohibit driveways on collector roads, so any residential development would require internal streets branching off the main route. That requirement alone, Perry said, would limit how many units could be built.
“These factors are why the Planning and Zoning Commission felt comfortable recommending this zoning,” he added. “There are going to be limiting factors to the density that could actually occur on this property.”
The request was submitted by Mario Cano, president of Heavy Roadway Construction Services, after a previous application for R-3 zoning—which would have allowed three-story apartment buildings— was rejected in October. P&Z held a public hearing May 19 and recommended the R-2 change as a “happy medium,” according to Perry.
At the June 3 council meeting, longtime Elgin resident Dianne Dunnigan was the only speaker during the second required public hearing. She said she had followed the project since its initial proposal and remained concerned about density.
“It’s way, way too dense for 10 acres,” she said. “Duplexes are apartments—they are not homeowner condominiums. So instead of going up, it’s just going every which way. I looked at the plat, and it’s very squished in there.”
Dunnigan, who lives two blocks from the site, also questioned the viability of development given flood conditions in the area.
“I know that lot very well, and there’s an issue of flooding,” she said. “That whole land floods. I’m uphill and I watch 20 minutes of rain—it floods—all coming down the hill. Klaus Lane will never be more than a one-lane lane because it’s just a flood zone.”
She urged council members to consider broader impacts.
“It’s the overall protection for the area, and the residents of Elgin that have to be considered, not just the one developer,” she said.
New Councilwoman Tiffany St. Pierre echoed some concerns, questioning how closely houses could be built and whether emergency access could be affected. Perry assured the council that Elgin’s development standards meet national fire codes and that its zoning offsets are actually larger than national minimums.
He also emphasized that the rezoning does not bypass the city’s development review process.
“Zoning does not concern floodplains,” he said. “That will be addressed through site plan review to make sure that it meets flood requirements.”
The motion to approve was made by Councilman Liston Crim—also new to the seat—and was passed 4–3. Council members St. Pierre, Arthur Gibson and YaLecia Love voted against the ordinance.
