by Hank Brockett
7/18/01
At Tuesday's plan commission meeting, trustees unanimously supported the special use of a planned unit development and preliminary plat for the Lakelands Club on Lake Mary, north of 135th Street and west of Essington Road near the current Lakelands community.
Developer Gerald Clark hopes to develop 80 acres of wooded lakefront property into 20 townhomes, 52 single-family homes and a clubhouse. The development also plans to include a walking path and two gates, one at each entrance.
"This markets to ... young professionals and older people like me who want to have younger people around so we don't feel so old," said Clark, who also developed the Lakelands development.
Besides being the first gated community in Plainfield, other characteristics stand out.
For instance, each lot only would consist of the building pad, with the surrounding areas maintained by a homeowner's association.
This change from normal lotting neccessetated the special use of a planned unit development.
If approved by the village board on Aug. 6, the plan would include a private road that meanders through the property and provides access for each residence.
Gates at each end would be opened most likely by a device on a resident's car windshield.
Police and other emergency vehicles also would be granted access automatically, Clark said, with a police contract needed for service.
The private road means that the homeowner's association also would have to take care of snow removal and road repairs.
The original Lakelands also contains a private road. That road would lead to homes that are a little smaller than normal, developers said.
The plans take out rooms that aren't used that often and replace them with more intricate designs and "nooks and crannies."
Development would be shaped significantly by the natural settings, Clark said.
Heavy trees and a concentration on landscape are definitely in the plans.
"We need to save those trees to keep out the noise from the quarry and the noise from the traffic," he said.
Passage occurred with some engineering aspects still up for discussion and assuming that sidewalks would be installed and 135th Street be improved per the annexation agreement with Plainfield.
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