Plainfield Village Board OKs 450-home development

The Plainfield Village Board approved plans for a new 450-home residential development near the southwest corner of 127th Street and Van Dyke Road.

During a board meeting last Monday, all but one trustee voted for a proposal from developer Pulte Home Company to build 332 single-family homes and 118 townhomes on the property known as Bronk Farm.

The members favorable to the plan praised Pulte for its work not just designing the development, but also committing to work on needed stormwater improvements in the area.

“This project came before the board in a very thoughtful, very full comprehensive review, and I think it was a really great, fantastic partnership between Pulte and the residents to really see what the community needed, what the neighboring residents needed,” said Trustee Cally Larson.

Trustee Brian Wojowski said he hoped other developers would approach the village with projects in the manner Pulte did.

A village traffic assessment showed the new development would not worsen peak traffic congestion in the area. The development would be located about a mile south of Plainfield North High School.

Construction of the development would also net the village about $1 million in fees, according to a village report.

Still, Trustee Kevin Calkins again voiced his opposition to the project, arguing it would disallow expansion of medical facilities in the area by Edward Medical Center on 127th Street, just north of where the development would be built.

“I think not saving this land for medical purposes is a big mistake,” Calkins said.

Mayor John Argoudelis said in conversations with Edward-Elmhurst Health, that the company said it has no plans to expand its center into a hospital. Argoudelis told The Herald-News it doesn’t make economic sense for the company to expand in Plainfield.

He added that the residential development was worth approving on its own, and showed how attractive the village was to developers.

“This is about as high quality and well thought out residential development as we’ve seen approaching Plainfield in a long, long time,” Argoudelis said.

Calkins was the sole vote against the project with Trustees Harry Benton, Tom Ruane, Larson and Wojowski voting for it.