A new townhouse development along Big Timber Road may add to Elgin's affordable housing stock, but adjoining neighbors fear noise, loss of privacy and exacerbated flood problems with the pending loss of what is now nearly 9 acres of mostly wooded area.
More recently, the Burton Foundation gained ownership of the property. The Elgin-based nonprofit specializes in creating affordable housing. Potential residents of Gifford's Crossing would need to fall below certain income limits to qualify. Those current limits range from $23,190 for a single person to $66,180 for a family of four. The development plan calls for four, nine-unit townhouse buildings, each standing two stories. Each unit will have attached two-car garages accessible from a private alley in the rear. There would be 13 two-bedroom units ; 18 three-bedroom units ; and five, four-bedroom units .
More than an hour of testimony from the residents showed concerns about the maintenance and oversight of the future rental property that speakers described as being"shoehorned" into an owner-occupied neighborhood.