Please join us for Part Two of our Bungalows & Blooms Walking Tour this coming Saturday, July 24, at 9:30 AM.  We will meet in the driveway of 626 Orange St. on the corner of Orange and Gertrude.  Parking is on both sides of Gertrude and on the north side of Orange.  We will visit 27 bungalows–exterior only–plus 5 extra gardens from Wabash to Orchard this time.  It is a little over a mile long and will take approximately 1 -1 1/2 hours to complete.  There will be more “jerkinhead gable roofs” and “piano windows” to see.  As last time, a booklet telling about the architectural features of the houses and the historical information of the first owners will  be furnished. This is a joint effort of SWAN and the Elgin History Museum.

Jennifer Fritz-Williams, Historic Preservation Specialist with the City of Elgin and Pat Hill, neighborhood resident and bungalow owner, will lead the tours.

Tickets are $5 and may be purchased the day of the tour.

See the “Bungalow Belts” on Orange Street and Morgan Street that contain Chicago Bungalows, and Sears Bungalows on Orange and Oak Streets. What are the characteristics that make a bungalow? What decorative features are unique to bungalows? There are 7 different types of bungalows, defined by roof type and all are present in the Southwest neighborhood. Architectural specialist Sarosh Saher will be your guide.

Tickets are $5 each and can be purchased the day of the tour.

Hats off to the Preservation Committee for organizing a spectacular tour!

SWAN will receive 12 more Historic Plaques to display on our beautiful historic houses, plus 3 more Awards for our neighborhood. Dawn Hartney will be presented an award for leading our group in putting together our Sears Trolley Tour last May and Kathy Moore and Stacy Reynolds will each receive awards for their outstanding efforts in recruiting neighbors to have their houses researched and plaqued.

Everyone is invited. Let’s support our winners and our neighborhood!

To reach the site, head west on Big Timber, and then turn turn right (north) onto Lyle.  Then, you make an immediate left onto Monday Dr.  You can park near the corner of Monday and Banks.

We hope to see you there!

Anybody that is interested in obtaining free seeds may do so by requesting them on the application or by contacting Mike Curtin. There are plenty of seeds for everyone.  Please take advantage of this unique opportunity.

If you are looking for cost-effective garden ideas to enhance the look of your property, consider the various packages offered by the Kane-Dupage Soil & Water Conservation District.  This organization offers a butterfly package, a humming bird package, and a rain garden package for only $62 per package.  The last day to order these packages is April 30^th.  If you are fortunate enough to receive a YMCA grant, then the cost of these packages to the homeowner is only $12.

We also need volunteers to help plant trees on Saturday April 17th.  We will be planting between 1500-2000 trees in Burnidge Woods and need 20-30 volunteers. Again, contact Mike Curtin at michaelcurtin31@gmail.com if you’re interested.

More details will be available in the coming weeks.

To get involved with SWAN’s Bungalow Walk, contact Pat Hill.

The program will take place tonight, Tuesday March 16 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at Gail Borden. Refreshments will be available, and all attendees will receive a CFL bulb.

California-based developer John DeWald and Associates has received final zoning approval from the Kane County Board for Serosun Farms, a 410-acre conservation community that reinvents the rural lifestyle on the suburban fringe.

The development falls under a new county zoning code allowing limited development on a property while permanently protecting the remaining land for agriculture and open space.

More than 300 acres – or 75 percent of the property – is designated open space, preserved farm and restored prairie, said John DeWald, principal for John DeWald and Associates. The 114 estate homes on one-acre plots will sit among an equestrian center, walking trails, fishing ponds and an organic farm. Sustainable elements of the community listed on the development’s Web site include using wind and solar energy, waste recycling and reuse through composting and mulching, soil and water conservation, as well as organic farming practices that will provide food products for the community.

“Concepts like this can be used to preserve rural areas where the suburban edges are starting to spread out into the farmland,” DeWald said. “Our development is in an area that as Hampshire, Burlington and Pingree Grove continue to grow, there will still be a rural area between them so you will be able to tell when you are leaving one town and entering another.”

While homebuilders across the country are struggling to fill houses and condominiums in subdivisions, Serosun Farms already is attracting interest even before the first model homes are completed, DeWald said.

“We are building a community as opposed to just building homes,” he said. “People are coming out of this downturn looking for a lifestyle and we offer something unique … When things get tough, it is the unique project that gets the attention and gets buyers.”

The idea for a sustainable community surfaced about eight years ago when DeWald’s sister, Jane Stickland, bought a property and started an equestrian farm. She soon realized the suburbs were rapidly approaching and did not want a high density subdivision across the street, DeWald said.

“The options were either move farther west or develop with a much smaller density,” DeWald said.

The development lies within Kane County Board member Robert Kudlicki’s District 25, which covers the townships of Hampshire, Rutland, Burlington, Plato and Virgil. Kudlicki said the developer and board have worked for more than two years to refine the project, which is the first under the county’s 2030 Plan promoting agricultural preservation and local farming at the suburban edge.

“This is a different concept, but it fits in with our living style and the agricultural area that we are,” said Kudlicki, of Hampshire.

DeWald said final plat approval and engineering plans are expected this winter, with work on the development starting next spring.

Copyright © 2009 Paddock Publications, Inc.

Kane County is looking at extending the “Windy City” moniker a bit farther west with the creation of a new set of regulations that will both permit and oversee the use of small wind turbines to power homes and businesses.

The county created a draft ordinance that will be the subject of public hearings that are yet to be scheduled.

The ordinance promotes the use of wind turbines by home and business owners as a viable, clean source of energy that can help reduce energy demand and maybe even result in some money for those who take advantage of it. Small wind turbines would be allowed in all zoning districts with no special permitting required. In general, the devices are only capable of reducing a home or businesses’ need to purchase power and are less viable in dense urban areas where wind is diminished. Some rooftop turbines, however, can generate energy at wind speeds as low as 2 mph.

The higher a wind turbine stretches into the sky, the better the wind. For that reason, the county is considering having no limits on wind turbine tower heights except for aesthetic purposes on lots that are two acres or less.

The proposed laws would ban any lighting, extra signage or unusual color schemes on the devices. It would also make any wind turbine that creates excessive noise subject to the county’s nuisance laws. All structures would be reviewed by structural and electrical engineers.

Not only can the devices reduce power bills for those who take advantage of them, but ComEd credits customers for any excess power they generate with the devices that flow back into the power grid. There is also a federal tax credit for which wind turbine owners can apply.

Violations of the new ordinance would be monitored primarily through any complaints generated by neighbors.

“I think it’s a real exciting thing,” county board member Drew Frasz said. Frasz represents a largely rural district where he said he has fielded several calls recently from residents interested in installing windmills. “This is an idea whose time has come.”

Copyright © 2009 Paddock Publications, Inc.