Zoning board backs Seasons at Cary with one-way New Haven link after traffic fight

The Village of Cary Board of Zoning and Planning Appeals on Sept. 11 voted 5-0 to recommend the Seasons at Cary planned development to the Village Board, and required that the proposed New Haven Drive connection be built as a one-way outbound (westbound) link from the existing Cambria cul‑de‑sac into the new development, with an emergency‑vehicle exception.

The recommendation covers five approvals the developer sought for the project known on the agenda as case 24ZPA12002: a comprehensive plan land‑use map amendment, rezoning from B‑2 Shopping Center District to a combination of B‑2 and R‑3 Multifamily District, final plat of subdivision, approval of a planned development covering the multifamily component, and a variance from the McHenry County stormwater ordinance. The matter will go next to the Village Board for final action; staff said the earliest Village Board meeting for the item is Oct. 7.

Why it matters: the proposal would convert the former Damish Farm site along Illinois Route 31 into a mixed commercial/multifamily development that the petitioner says would include roughly 360 multifamily apartments and seven lots. Residents who live on New Haven Drive and in the adjacent Cambria subdivision strongly opposed allowing a two‑way through‑connection, saying it would increase cut‑through traffic, create safety risks for pedestrians and schoolchildren, and could depress nearby home prices. After presentations from the developer and consultants, the petitioner offered a compromise — a one‑way outbound connector — and the ZPA adopted that as a condition of its favorable recommendation.

The application and departures: the petitioner asked to reconfigure the site so commercial uses front Route 31 and multifamily sits behind them, create seven lots of record, and approve a planned development for about 360 apartments with several departures from standard zoning: reduced front and interior setbacks (examples cited in staff materials included a reduction from 30 feet to 15 feet along the new extension of New Haven Drive and from 30 feet to…