East Dundee Village President Dan Pearson says he agrees with residents who oppose using the former Haeger Potteries property for affordable rental units, saying the project is too dense and some of the proposed rents akin to “Section 8 housing.”

In the wake of more than 50 people protesting the project proposed by Brinshore Development at a public hearing this past week, Pearson said the East Dundee Village Board needs to evaluate how it wants to proceed.

“We’re trying to get this right,” he said. “I don’t want to rush through this. We’re going to take our time. If Brinshore can work with us, great. If not, we will look at other options.”

The village last year purchased the Haeger property, which sits on seven acres at 7 Maiden Lane, for $600,000 with an eye toward redevelopment. It has been vacant since the company closed in May 2016 after 145 years in business.

A “request for proposals” was put out to solicit developer projects for the site that would be in line with the village’s vision, which includes creating housing, public green space, a riverfront park and a place that will attract more residents within walking distance of downtown businesses.

The developer who wins the contract will purchase the property from the village for $1.

Evanston-based Brinshore was selected to submit a more detailed plan, and its first proposal called for 136 apartments to be housed in two four-story apartment buildings as well as 30 townhomes, a riverfront park, outdoor plaza and River Street cul-de-sac.

Directed to scale back the density, Brinshore returned with three options. The first two provided a choice of 119 or 105 apartments and the third would eliminate apartments in favor of 89 townhomes.

The development is currently estimated to cost about $76.3 million.But Pearson said neighbors “don’t want the density, which is about 100 units, because they figure it’s another 200 or 300 cars on the roads,” which is a criticism with which he agrees.

“I’m in favor of single-family homes and even townhomes,” Pearson said.

Another sticking point for residents is that 30% of the proposed apartments would be earmarked for low-income renters, meaning the monthly leasing amount would be $675 for a one-bedroom unit, $810 for two bedrooms and $935 for three, according to information provided by Brinshore.

Another 60% would be reserved for people with an annual income of between $54,000 and $74,820 and the rest rented at market rate amounts.

Pearson said the lowest rents are called “workforce rates,” but it is basically government-subsidized Section 8 housing.

“In my opinion, Section 8 can put more of a drain on our resources as far as police and fire,” Pearson said.

Brinshore has been working hard, he said, “but my feeling hasn’t changed on this whole property. I don’t want high density and I also don’t want Section 8 housing, especially in that area.”

Because there’s no timetable or rush for a final decision and there are other options to consider, Pearson said.

One would be for the village to pay for the site to be cleared of buildings and then wait until the development market improves, he said. City staff is exploring how much that would cost the village, he said.

The problem with the scenario, however, is that lead, asbestos and contaminated water and soil must be removed and more testing is needed to determine the full extent of remediation, according to village documents. The estimated cost of cleanup could be between $3.2 million and $5.2 million.

Howard Schock, an East Dundee resident and former board trustee and Planning, Zoning and Historic Commission member, attended the public hearing. He said not only is the project too dense for the site, it doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood and would be home to people who don’t have a lot of expendable cash.

“If they don’t have money for rent, will they have money to put back into the village at festivals and things like that?” he said. “You want to put something there, then make it single-family homes and make it blend in with the rest of the neighborhood.”

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.