27 acres of land will be demolished and turned into cookie cutter homes so close together-you could probably smell your neighbor. What’s the cost of this? They will tear down 150 year old trees and disrupt the established wildlife currently thriving there.
Each mature tree is a monument
We received a notice regarding a town hall meeting, held on April 21, 2026, to discuss the proposed development. The satellite view of the land currently stands as a beautiful forested area with wetlands and an abandoned factory. We are a community full of abundant wildlife; from our river, forest preserves, nature walks and bike paths. What surprised me, was Pulte Homes development plans DO consistent of preserving one thing – the abandoned factory building. Trees and wildlife are expendable. Their renderings and drawings did little to express the preservation of the forest or wildlife. Kudos to them for planting little trees instead – we will have to wait another 150 years to see the wildlife population and ecosystem thrive as it is now. Trees are an ecosystem’s core.
I live on Dean Street, right off of Ninth Street. We have seen groundhogs, toads, and the most beautiful birds in a wide range of species right in our backyard. We’ve watched ducks cross the road and watch the deer roaming through our yard and down Dean Street to explore. In the fall, the packs of coyotes run through the forested area, which will soon be destroyed, in the wonderful paradise they currently call ‘home’ and are free to roam
When one disrupts local vegetation, we affect everything that comes from it. The birds, the coyotes and deer and ducks will have to find new homes. The beautiful sounds of life we hear each Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter morning on Dean and State Streets will become a distant fairytale memory.
Each mature tree is a monument of endurance and balance
Pulte homes did not open the conversation to relocation of the trees to preserve them and the wild who live in and around their branches. If they proposed a plan with half the amount of homes, each with a generous plot of land, while working with teams to preserve old trees and wildlife – they may have my vote.
But the conversations regarding trees and wildlife left us with more questions than answers – but hey, they have so many different colors and styles of houses to choose from!