NorthPoint vote again – before Christmas, amid COVID

It was days before Christmas, the COVID-19 pandemic was filling hospital beds, and the Joliet City Council was voting on the controversial NorthPoint Development plan.

That was December 2020. This is now. And, the same situation exists.

Christmas comes every year. COVID-19 hasn’t gone away. And, the City Council again votes Tuesday on NorthPoint’s proposed Compass Global Logistics Hub, although it has expanded to 2,300 acres.

More work has been done by lawyers than construction crews since the council approved a smaller NorthPoint plan a year ago.

Not a shovel has been in the ground in 2021 as NorthPoint battled in court with the village of Elwood over a proposed bridge location and with the Stop NorthPoint opposition group over whether Compass Global Logistics Hub should be built at all.

NorthPoint spokesman Scott Burnham said Monday that if the new plan is approved construction would begin in “ideally the earlier part of 2022.”

Opposition to the plan, however, may not let up even if it does get expected approval from the City Council, which approved NorthPoint twice before.

Stop NorthPoint on Monday issued an open letter to Gov JB Pritzker asking him to intervene to delay the Tuesday hearing based on the absence of traffic and environmental studies for the latest NorthPoint plan.

Whether the governor does or not, Stop NorthPoint plans to consider pursuing opposition in court. The group has asked a Will County judge to reconsider a July ruling that dismissed a suit to stop the project and plans to appeal if the judge does not reconsider.

Meanwhile, there are the unknown intentions of CenterPoint Development, which sought to delay the Plan Commission vote on NorthPoint while expressing concern about the absence of a traffic study showing the impact on roads running through the CenterPoint Intermodal Center.

Here’s a wrap-up of what’s kept NorthPoint at bay since the plan appeared to get final approval in April 2020.

• April 17, 2020: City Council votes 6-3 to approve a NorthPoint annexation plan to develop about 1,300 acres for 16 million square feet of warehouse space after a public hearing that lasted four days because of the number of opponents speaking against the project.

• Oct. 5, 2020: Will County Judge Roger Rickmon grants a preliminary injunction stopping the NorthPoint project from proceeding based on a complaint from the village of Elwood that proper notice was not given for a Joliet Plan Commission hearing that preceded the City Council vote.

• Oct. 14, 2020: Stop NorthPoint group files a lawsuit seeking a court order stopping tne NorthPoint project based on a complaint that it is a prospective nuisance.

• Dec. 17, 2020: Joliet City Council votes 6-2 for a NorthPoint annexation plan after two days of public hearings and 80 speakers, most of them against the plan, in a redo vote after the Oct. 5 judge’s ruling and also after a redo on the Plan Commission hearing.

• July 9, 2021: Judge Ted Jarz dismisses the Stop NorthPoint nuisance lawsuit. Stop NorthPoint files a motion to reconsider the decision that is still pending.

• Oct. 5: Judge Jarz rules against Elwood in a case that has tied up NorthPoint plans to build bridge in Elwood over Route 53 to meet conditions in the Joliet annexation plan. Elwood later appeals the decision.

• October: NorthPoint files new plans with Joliet and seeks approval for a larger Compass Global Logistics Hub of 2,300 acres with a new bridge site near Breen Road.

• Nov. 18: Joliet Plan Commission in a 6-2 vote recommends approval of a new NorthPoint plan despite a request from CenterPoint Properties to delay the vote for more information.

• Dec. 16: Will County Judge John Pavich rejects a Stop NorthPoint complaint for a temporary restraining order to delay the City Council hearing and vote on the NorthPoint plan scheduled for Dec. 21.

• Dec. 21: City Council agenda includes a public hearing and vote on 2,300-acre NorthPoint plan.