Shorewood board approves amended annexation and PUD for Auburn Chase with 24‑month sewer-credit condition

The Village of Shorewood on March 11 approved an amended annexation and development agreement and a preliminary planned-unit development (PUD) for the Auburn Chase subdivision, a proposal from a Lennar subsidiary that would replace an earlier plan for higher-density housing with 277 single‑family homes.

Community-development staff described the proposal as 144 small‑lot single‑family homes and 133 conventional single‑family homes, a system of sidewalks and multiuse paths, and two parks to be dedicated to the village while a private dog park and several ponds would remain under homeowner association control. Staff said the developer has proposed contributing roughly five acres of land and providing about $800,000 worth of park landscaping and equipment. "They're proposing to donate 5 acres of land to the village," the community-development presenter explained, and staff accounted for landscaping and equipment toward the village's park-space requirements.

The project includes off‑site roadway work along Sile/Seil Road and sanitary‑sewer improvements. Staff presented estimated Seil Road improvements of about $1.4 million, with Lennar paying the bulk of the frontage cost and seeking a $500 per‑unit capital improvement fee credit that staff calculated would yield roughly $138,000 in relief to the developer. On sanitary sewers, staff proposed oversizing the sewer to serve future development and to accept a $365,000 credit to the developer for the oversizing cost, with the intent to recapture those costs from future benefited properties.

Developers and counsel answered trustee questions about timing, engineering and guarantees. "Our anticipation is to start yet this summer... once we're fully entitled with our engineering, I anticipate us starting to break ground this July," Todd Cleven, vice president of land for the homebuilder, said in response to a trustee inquiry about the schedule.

Trustees pressed staff on deadlines and enforcement. Counsel and staff told the board that the development agreement contains a provision addressing completion time frames and a bond to protect the village if required improvements are not finished. The board added a motion amendment — agreed during the debate and included in the motion the board approved — stipulating that if sewer improvements are not completed within 24 months of final‑plat recordation, the credit for oversizing or tap‑on fees would be subject to reexamination and could be lost. Eric Kretzel, counsel for the applicant, summarized the transcript language: "If the sewer improvements are not completed for all phases of Auburn Chase within 2 years of the date of recording the final plat, the developer and village agree to meet to reevaluate the appropriate oversizing and applicable credit for same."

After discussion, the board voted to approve the amended annexation and the PUD. The vote followed a motion by Trustee Brockman and a second by Trustee Chapman and passed by roll call.

What happens next: staff and the developer will complete final engineering and permitting; certain model elevations or architectural changes will require separate staff or board approvals under the annexation/PUD terms. The board also discussed an internal policy resolution to pass oversizing costs on to future benefited properties and said that matter will return to the board for further consideration.