Plainfield Plan Commission OKs banquet venue on Lockport Street

Plainfield — This story has been updated with new information.

The Plainfield Plan Commission voted unanimously to recommend the Village Board approves a new banquet facility, Parsonage Banquets.

The venue, at 24012 W. Lockport St., would make use of the property’s 2,837-square foot, two-story building on the north side of Lockport Street at the intersection with Route 59. The building is the former rectory for St. Mary Immaculate Church, which previously occupied the adjacent lot. The church building was renovated into retail space in 1979.

The commission approved the plan on Dec. 5.

According to a Plan Commission report, the venue plans to offer “an intimate, boutique setting for smaller gatherings” including showers, birthday parties, anniversaries, “micro weddings” and corporate luncheons and meetings. Events would end by 11 p.m. on weekends and 10 p.m. on weekdays. Capacity for the venue would be capped at 85 people for standing events and 60 for seated events.

While the venue will be fully furnished with tables and chairs, all food will be prepared off-site and catered in, while alcohol will be BYOB.

Although the venue is less than 1/2 mile down the road from an existing banquet space, Sanctuary Events, the Plan Commission was not concerned with overlap.

“The two businesses are completely independent from each other,” Plainfield Director of Planning Jonathan Proulx said. “There weren’t any questions or concerns about the second venue because Parsonage is much smaller than Sanctuary Events. The scale of the events they’d be hosting is different.”

Sanctuary Events primarily hosts weddings and other special events and has a maximum capacity of 175 guests.

Proulx said the only issue raised by the Plan Commission was parking at the new location, although it was determined that there would be enough space for the venue’s guests at a nearby public parking lot, which is owned by the village and the Plainfield Area Public Library District.

According to Plan Commission documents, the lot, which sits to the north of the proposed event space, contains 110 spaces and usually is at only 25% capacity during the evenings.

“The proposed business is appropriate for the subject location and is compatible to adjacent businesses,” according to the Plan Commission report. “Staff finds that the establishment of The Parsonage Events is appropriate at the subject location. The historic downtown area is a desired location for small events. Furthermore, staff finds that the proposed use complements existing uses in the area with nearby restaurants providing possible catering options.”

The Village Board is expected to vote on approval of Parsonage Events’ special use permit at its Dec. 18 meeting.