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Hoffman Estates committee approves dormant Special Service Area for Kensington Fields
Summary
The village's Planning, Building and Zoning Committee approved an ordinance to establish a dormant Special Service Area (SSA) for the Kensington Fields subdivision to ensure maintenance funding for stormwater facilities if homeowners associations fail to do so.
The Planning, Building and Zoning Committee for the Village of Hoffman Estates approved an ordinance May 12 to establish Special Service Area 2025‑1, known as Kensington Fields, and scheduled a public hearing on the measure.
The ordinance would create a dormant SSA that would remain inactive unless the homeowners association or property owners fail to maintain the subdivision's stormwater facilities, at which point the village could levy a tax on the directly benefited properties to cover maintenance costs.
Committee members and staff described the SSA as an insurance policy to protect the village's general tax base from the cost of maintaining detention ponds and stormwater infrastructure when no responsible party can be located. Planning staff said the SSA would be recorded against the property and that the SSA would go into effect 60 days after the public hearing. The ordinance also was described as a condition of the site's plan approval by the developer.
Trustee Mills said he was uncomfortable with SSAs based on past experience and asked who would front initial costs; staff responded that the village would not levy unless necessary and that Pulte, the developer for the larger Plum Farms example referenced, had agreed as part of approvals to the SSA mechanism. Staff said the SSA approach had been adopted previously in the village for other developments and is used by counties and municipalities as a fallback when homeowners associations, park districts, or other parties fail to maintain detention areas.
Corporation counsel told the committee the SSA approach is increasingly required by drainage and water regulations and is intended as a last resort to ensure detention areas are maintained.
The committee approved the ordinance by roll call vote. The hearing on the SSA was set for July 21.
The action does not immediately levy any tax; the ordinance creates the mechanism that allows the village to levy a special charge only if required to pay for stormwater maintenance in the future.
