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Riverwoods lowers planned-development minimum from 25 to 8 acres; debate centers on flexibility vs. scale
Summary
Trustees amended and approved a new Planned Development overlay district ordinance and reduced the minimum site size from 25 acres to 8 acres after debate between planners and trustees about preserving large-site character versus flexibility for future developments.
The Village of Riverwoods Board of Trustees voted to approve an ordinance establishing a Planned Development (PD) overlay district and amended the ordinance to reduce the minimum PD site area from 25 acres to 8 acres.
Trustee Clayton moved the amendment to change the minimum site requirement to eight acres; trustees approved the change after discussion about limiting PDs to larger parcels versus creating a flexible tool for future redevelopment. Planning Commission members who advised the board said they favored the higher 25-acre threshold to ensure PDs would be large-scale, master-planned projects; the village planner and some trustees argued a smaller minimum provides the village more tools for quality planning if state-level changes restrict single-family zoning in the future.
Why it matters: the PD overlay establishes a new zoning procedure for rezoning and master-planned development within the village. Reducing the acreage threshold makes the overlay applicable to smaller properties that could be combined or developed in the future; opponents warned the lower threshold could make the PD option available to pieces of property the planning commission had not intended to target.
Discussion highlights: planning commission Chair Breitkoff said the commission “very strongly felt it was a bad idea” to set the minimum at eight acres because 25 acres better matched the type of large-scale development the overlay was meant to regulate. Village planner Bruce and other trustees countered that recent state-level zoning proposals and evolving planning practice argued for more flexible tools; Bruce noted the village already has a roughly eight-acre site off Milwaukee Avenue that would be affected.
Action and implementation: trustees adopted the PD ordinance with the 8-acre minimum and instructed staff to finalize editorial references called out in packet edits. After the roll-call vote the motion carried. Staff said the ordinance includes a procedural rezoning step before a PD special use application, preserving multiple review hurdles even if the minimum acreage is lowered.
Next steps: staff will publish the ordinance and incorporate the edits to section references; rezoning and any PD applications would follow the public hearing and plan-commission review process in future agenda cycles.
