JOLIET – Virginia-based trucking company Estes Express Lines wants to build a terminal on land that would be annexed to Joliet.
The 38-acre site is on the northeast corner of Laraway Road and U.S. Route 52, across from the Will County Sheriff’s facility.
Estes' corporate clients include Amazon.com, said James Haller, Joliet's director of community and economic development. Amazon.com opened a fulfillment center in Joliet in October and recently added 500 jobs to expand the staff there to 1,500.
But Haller said Estes representatives have indicated the proposed Joliet terminal is not being built because of the nearby Amazon.com operation.
“They said no, it’s the general business in the area,” Haller said.
The Amazon.com fulfillment center is located in the Laraway Crossings Business Park, which is at Laraway Road and Route 53 and less than 3 miles west of the proposed Estes site.
The matter is on the Thursday agendas for both the Zoning Board of Appeals and Plan Commission but likely is to be tabled.
Joliet attorney Michael Hansen, who represents Estes, said he has asked that the Estes proposal be tabled until the June 16 meetings.
The Plan Commission would hear a petition to annex the land to Joliet with an I-1 light industrial zoning designation. The zoning board would consider a special use permit for the project.
The site is difficult to develop because of high-tension wires that cross over it and pipelines that run underneath, Haller said.
“The truck terminal would be set far off the road because of the high-tension wires and pipelines,” Haller said.