Cadence Premier plan for Joliet includes diesel fuel and gaming

JOLIET – Cadence Premiere Logistics’ plan to bring its corporate office and other operations to Joliet includes gaming machines and diesel fuel sales for a retail operation.

The Zoning Board of Appeals on May 21 will consider a special use permit for the project.

The plan advanced after getting the green light from the Joliet City Council Land Use and Legislative Committee in March. Committee members said Thursday they were not aware the plan included diesel fuel sales or gaming.

"I don't recall diesel fuel or any kind of gaming," Councilman Terry Morris, committee chairman, said Thursday. "I don't know if I would have been able to support it at our Land Use meeting knowing that. ... Now you're talking about a lot of trucks turning in there and coming out on (Route) 53."

The Cadence project would be built on the northeast corner of Route 53 and Emerald Drive.

At the Land Use Committee meeting, Councilman Jim McFarland raised questions about the amount of truck traffic the project would add and the need for a traffic light at Emerald Drive.

McFarland said he voted for the Cadence plan as presented to the committee when it included sales of natural gas fuel, which he did not think was likely to attract much traffic. But diesel fuel sales would attract more trucks, he said.

"You're talking about diesel fuel, so you're going to have people coming in from I-80," he said. "And you're going to have gaming so you're going to have people sitting there – maybe overnight."

Cadence Premier CEO Rocky Caylor, who made the presentation to the Land Use Committee, could not be reached for comment.

However, background information submitted by Caylor to the city in March does refer to a "gaming component" that will be part of 5,000-square-foot retail operation.

Caylor in March said Cadence planned to relocate 120 jobs as it moves its Alsip operations to Joliet. He said the company expects to add between 100 and 150 jobs to the Joliet facility in the two years after it opens.

The plan also includes a truck repair shop and truck wash, warehousing and a light assembly plant. Cadence also would have its corporate headquarters in Joliet.

McFarland said he is concerned about the extent of the retail operation because it creates the possibility of four truck stops within a short stretch of Route 53.

The Route 66 Food N Fuel truck stop is at Laraway Road now, with a Pilot Travel Center coming to the same intersection. McFarland said there also is talk of a third truck stop on the northwest corner of Route 53 and Laraway Road if a land deal is completed.