Plainfield Village Board talks future of land along western part of 143rd Street extension

The Plainfield Village Board discussed potential plans for the future of land near where 143rd Street will extend to the west during a meeting on Monday.

Johnathan Proulx, the village’s director of planning, presented a recommendation to designate more land near where 143rd Street is planned to be extended, west of Steiner Road, for nonresidential use. The recommendation comes as the extension of 143rd Street is set to start in the next year to bring truck traffic away from the village’s center more directly to interstate highways.

“Those transportation improvements certainly make this area more logical or, in staff’s opinion, appropriate to at least consider some nonresidential uses,” he said.

Proulx said the land north of where 143rd Street will be extended is already zoned for light industrial use and his recommendation calls for a similar designation for land to the south and west.

His recommendation also had much of the area around the intersection of Ridge Road and the future 143rd Street zoned for mixed use, which he said would allow for commercial and some residential development.

Proulx and Mayor John Argoudelis also pointed out that adding industrial developments would help diversify the village’s tax base. The mayor pointed to neighboring towns like Bolingbrook and Romeoville which have designated industrial parks which have produced significant revenue for local taxing bodies.

“Many people will tell us, ‘Hey taxes on our homes are too high,’” Argoudelis said. “Well we need to diversify what we have out there, industrial and commercial, in order to take up some of that tax burden.”

Proulx also said while demand for industrial development has grown in recent years, the demand for more single-family homes in the village has “moderated” since the peak over a decade ago.

Nearly all of the present trustees expressed concern with designating the area for industrial use.

Trustee Cally Larson said she worried whether the village would be able to have enough input on what type of developments would go into the area if it was zoned for industrial.

She added the extension of 143rd Street offers the village the ability to relieve traffic through its downtown, so officials needed to be cautious about potentially adding more industrial development elsewhere.

“The last thing I want to do is take 20 steps back,” Larson said.

Trustee Kevin Calkins said a decision on zoning in that area is “premature” and that the village should make sure adding more industrial development won’t hinder local traffic and infrastructure.

Trustee Tom Ruane also expressed concern about potentially adding more truck traffic, but also acknowledged that industrial development would be the village’s best option for growing its tax base. Still, he said, the village should take its time to plan future growth.

“To ignore it, we’d be doing a disservice to the future people of Plainfield,” Ruane said. “To address it properly, and plan for it properly, would be the right purposeful thing to do as stewards of this community.”

Other trustees said they wanted to know more about what Kendall County and the village of Oswego were planning for nearby land before they made a decision.

Argoudelis said the discussion during the meeting was “fruitful” and suggested another discussion could happen on the matter next month.