April 25, 2024
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Rt. 53 warehouse proposal on hold again

Joliet Logistics Park plan pushed back to a March 1 vote

By Bob Okon
The one warehouse built in the Joliet Logistics Park seen from the other side of Route 53 at Millsdale Road on Oct. 22, 2023.

The one warehouse built in the Joliet Logistics Park seen from the other side of Route 53 at Millsdale Road. (Bob Okon)

The developer of Joliet Logistics Park along Route 53 has again delayed a City Council vote on continued warehouse construction at the site.

A vote on the 298-acre project was pulled off the City Council agenda at a meeting last week at the developer’s request. The matter was tabled to the March 1 council meeting.

The City Council in May 2020 rejected a plat renewal for Joliet Logistics Park after approving the NorthPoint project with its proposed closed-loop road network. Some council members said at the time that they would reject future warehouse projects that depend on access to Route 53, which has seen growing truck traffic over the years.

Joliet Logistics Park returned in 2021 to try again for approval and got a 5-3 favorable vote from the Plan Commission in October. City staff also is recommending approval.

But council members raised questions about the project in November when it was on the agenda but tabled to Jan. 5. At that time, there was some discussion as to whether Joliet Logistics Park would get access to the NorthPoint closed-loop road network.

Joe Hammer with the engineering firm Reuttiger, Tonelli & Associates represented Joliet Logistics Park at the Jan. 5 council meeting and acknowledged the access issue.

“We are going to request that that item be tabled to the March 1 meeting to allow for additional investigtion into access for the site and matters with the tenant,” Hammer said.

Hammer may have gotten a negative signal at the council workshop meeting the night before when Councilwoman Jan Quillman noted the council had turned down the plan previously.

There is a 490,000-square-foot warehouse on the Joliet Logistics Park site, which originally was approved for development in 2007. But previous plat approvals have expired, and the developer needs the city to renew the approvals to continue construction.