Aurora BoT creates new Institutional Zone for heart of Wells campus
In March of 2024, as part of a major revision of municipal law developed over two years, the Institutionally zoned Wells campus was set to be zoned Mixed-Use. This would have opened the campus to commercial development coinciding with continued educational use, in an attempt to help the Wells find new financial options.
After the college’s closure announcement on April 29, the Village Board of Trustees paused to re-evaluate the planned new zoning for Wells. In the Board's discussions, the campus was viewed as a block to be zoned one way or the other, Institutional or Mixed-Use.
On June 5, the WLS proposed a compromise using the boundaries of the National Historic Register District to delineate a newly defined* Institutional zone, while zoning the outlying portions of the campus (e.g., the Golf Course) as Mixed-Use.
We are gratified and relieved to note that on July 24, the Village BoT included this compromise in finally adopting its new municipal zoning law. The law now provides Institutional zoning to protect the core historic campus of our beloved Wells.
* Definition - The purpose of the Institutional District is to provide for continued institutional use of a portion of the former Wells College campus. The intent of this Zoning District is to provide space for non-profit, public, and semi-public entities to house schools, medical centers, municipal offices, libraries, museums, research centers, creative and performing arts centers, and facilities for charitable, fraternal and religious or other similar organizations.”
The letter from the WLS to Aurora’s Village Trustees is here.
