Plainfield discusses possibilities in economic development

PLAINFIELD Village Administrator Brian Murphy and Planner Michael Garrigan Wednesday morning presented an advisory economic development task force with preliminary updates to several economic initiatives.

Some of those updates included progress on filling several outlots in the Meijers planned unit development at 135th Street and Route 59.

[We are] working with some of those retailers, including a 7,125-square-foot OReillys Auto Parts store, and additional retail space at 11,251 square feet, Garrigan said. The same developer has identified a [retail use] at the hard corner outlet.

Also progressing are discussion on a potential big box retailer coming to the Boulevards property at the old truck stop along Route 30 near Interstate 55.

That retailer became more interested once the village got moving on Route 30 construction, and it also would be part of a tax-increment financing, or TIF, district the village is entertaining along Route 30, Garrigan said.

Murphy and Garrigan also said staff is entertaining the idea of bringing back impact fees on developers to fill in the revenue lost with lower projected income tax revenue from the state.

Plainfield has higher impact fees than many surrounding communities, in part because of the high Plainfield School District 202 portion. So Murphy and Garrigan said the plan still is preliminary and staff is just looking at it.

This is one of our bigger challenges, Murphy said.

Coffee with the Mayor

More than 50 residents attended Wednesdays Coffee with the Mayor event, primarily asking about Route 30 construction.

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Plainfield discusses possibilities in economic development