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Board approves Oak Haven plat after residents urge saving century‑old trees
Summary
The Village of Harrison approved rezoning and a preliminary plat for Oak Haven despite residents' appeals to move a retention pond and preserve mature trees; the developer said engineers located the pond to limit overall impact, and trustees asked staff to continue working with the developer on mitigation and traffic connections.
The Village of Harrison board voted to approve a rezoning and the preliminary plat for the Oak Haven subdivision after more than an hour of public comment and trustee questions about trees and traffic.
Two residents who inspected the site urged the board to move a proposed retention pond to avoid cutting large, old trees. Charles Van Dowieck told the board he measured multiple large specimens and said their estimated ages were striking: "There's 4 hickory trees...the age of those hickory nut trees are 171 years, hundred and 14, 171, and 157." He later added, "It just doesn't seem logical because you can cut trees down here, go across the street, put a pond in, and it's a farm here." Ryan Boglez, who said he has lived in the area for 16 years, told trustees "it seems like we're getting away from what Harrison used to be" and asked the board to consider preserving the woods and rural character.
The developer's representative, Jim Salop of TNT Professional Surveyors, told trustees the plat was designed to avoid woodland where possible and that engineering constraints — including contours and wetlands — guided the pond location. Salop said, "That is the only woods for the, construction on this development that is being, disturbed," and added the team tried to minimize impacts and worked around wetlands.
Trustees debated private‑property rights, the feasibility and cost of moving the pond, and traffic impacts on nearby streets including Peyton, Cumberland and Mile Long Drive. Staff and the developer noted wetlands mapping and DNR permitting complicate adding new road connections; staff also said future utility extensions are contemplated that may change circulation over time.
The board approved the preliminary plat subject to the staff‑recommended conditions (utilities, setbacks, drainage easements, developer agreement, grading and erosion controls, wetlands mapping, and more), including an amendment to reduce the building setback in condition 2 from 75 feet to 50 feet as the planning commission had recommended. The rezoning from general agriculture to single‑family RS‑1 was approved first, and the preliminary plat motion passed on the board vote recorded at the meeting.
The board directed staff to continue dialogue with the developer and to ensure required engineering and permitting steps (wetlands, final grading and utility plans) are completed before final plat approval. No additional regulatory restrictions on private property were adopted at the preliminary stage; trustees who raised tree‑protection concerns asked staff to explore mitigation and to bring any feasible measures back to the board.
