Lockport to begin 2025 budgets talks, review proposed housing development

Lockport — During the upcoming committee of the whole meeting in Lockport on Wednesday, the board will review the draft of the 2025 budget.

According to board documents, the budget will potentially include increased spending, drawing approximately $6 million from excess reserve funds, in order to complete several capital projects, including a planned project on 11th Street, and create a summer market series in the Metra Train Station parking lot.

Copies of the draft budget are available on the city website through the meeting’s agenda documents, and the board plans to have a final version of the budget approved on Dec. 4.

The committee of the whole will also discuss a proposed plan for a housing development south of the Cedar Ridge subdivision. which is located off of 167th Street.

The property in question is 78 acres and currently zoned for residential development. It was previously considered for an age-restricted community in 2009, but the plans were never completed.

The plan, which was approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 8 by a vote of 3 to 2, proposes a development of 278 single-family homes including 114 townhomes and 164 single family homes ranging in lot size from 5,160 square feet to 9,000 square feet.

Questions about the plan which developer M/I Homes has been asked to address include the impacts on traffic and local schools as well as concerns about increased flooding risks.

Those issues are expected to be discussed during the presentation.