Shodeen Project Fees Draw Suburban School District’s Ire

Campton Hills’ village hall is set to collect nearly $10 million in permit fees from a major new residential development, but the local school district is taking issue with the plan, claiming it’s unfairly cut out of the deal.

Developer Shodeen Group, based in Geneva, is seeking to annex 962 acres into the Kane County village for a 900-home subdivision called La Fox of Campton Hills, the Daily Herald reported. The project, a scaled-down version of a previously scrapped 2,000-home proposal, would bring 700 single-family homes and generate up to $9.5 million in fees for the village, according to a draft annexation agreement. The developer would be charged $10,500 per unit.

Village Administrator Mark Rooney said the fees would cover building inspections, stormwater and civil engineering reviews and other permitting processes. The agreement also calls for a 3-acre donation for a future public safety building.

A public hearing on the plan is scheduled for June 26 at Campton Hills Village Hall.

Not everyone’s onboard, though. The school system, Geneva Unit District 304, which would be responsible for educating all the students from the new homes, wasn’t included in the fee structure. School board president Larry Cabeen said the proposal as it stands is “not very appealing” to the district.

“We are going to have the expense of educating these kids,” Cabeen told the outlet. “It’s like they forgot the whole thing is in the Geneva school district.”

The village, roughly 50 miles west of Chicago, had a population of about 10,900 as of mid-2024, according to Census data. If it was assumed each home of La Fox at Campton Hills held three residents, it could swell the village’s numbers by about 20 percent.

Another point of contention: the draft language also states Shodeen “shall not be required to donate any land or money to the village or any other governmental body or third party” outside of what’s outlined in the agreement. Shodeen Group President David Patzelt, however, said the firm is open to working with the district on a solution.

Campton Hills levies no property tax. Hence, the agreement calls for the creation of a special service area to fund public infrastructure maintenance, including roads, streetlights and sidewalks. A second SSA would serve a backup to maintain open space if the homeowners association fails to meet its obligations under the planned unit development.

Cabeen’s school district isn’t the only one sounding alarms over being sidelined in development negotiations in Illinois.

In Mundelein, three school districts are challenging a $10.8 million impact fee package tied to the wealthy Wirtz family’s $2 billion Ivanhoe Village plan, a sum far below the $90 million they say is needed to serve incoming students. The controversy prompted state Rep. Daniel Didech to stall a school fee reform bill earlier this month to pressure local officials and the developer back to the table, hoping they will reach an agreement to “treat the taxpayers of Mundelein fairly,” he said.

— Judah Duke