Pulte Homes withdrew its petition to build 94 duplexes on 32 wooded acres in the Chicago suburb of Naperville on Tuesday, pulling the proposal just hours before the city council was scheduled to vote — a last-minute retreat that hands a significant win to organized local opponents and leaves the fate of a contested public-land deal unresolved.
The development, which Pulte had branded Naperville Ridge, would have brought 94 duplex units to a surplus parcel owned by the DuPage Water Commission along 75th Street, between established residential neighborhoods in Naperville and the village of Woodridge to the east. The property contains more than 2,000 trees and approximately 11 acres of critical wetlands and wetland buffers. Its western edge shares a corner with the Greene Valley Forest Preserve, a proximity that became a centerpiece of the opposition.
Russ Whitaker, the project attorney for Pulte Homes, framed the decision diplomatically. “We value the longstanding partnership with the city of Naperville and are proud of what we have accomplished together,” Whitaker wrote in his withdrawal letter to the city, without specifying what drove the timing. Mayor Scott Wehrli confirmed at the start of Tuesday’s council meeting that with the document in hand, no formal action would take place…