Neighbor News
Yes to Bolingbrook food pantry
DuPage Township appreciates overwhelming voter support for non-binding referendum
Bolingbrook/DuPage Township - In a projected outcome from last week’s general election, the nonbinding referendum, “Shall DuPage Township replace its Romeoville food pantry with a consolidated facility featuring a larger food pantry and resource center at the northeast corner of Canterbury Road and Lily Cache Lane in Bolingbrook with revenues on hand from grant funds and with no property tax increase? was answered with 27,505 “yes” and 7,394 “no” in unofficial counts.
“The voters have spoken,” said Township Supervisor Gary Marschke. “We hope this allays the perceived fears of the naysayers.”
Plans for a new pantry have been in the works for a few years. In 2023, the Township announced that it would close its Romeoville site once the Bolingbrook location was completed.
Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
DuPage Township seeks to construct an approximately 11,000-square-foot building to house a food pantry, an office and a warehouse. The pantry/resource center is proposed to occupy a 1.46-acre site currently vacant and zoned as B-1 local retail.
Food Pantry plans have been mired in bureaucracy since the onset. After applying for Special Use Permit for a Planned Development with Variances for a Food Pantry and Resource Center the village’s Community Development Director responded with a host of concerns and questions. Responses from the township were met with more questions.
Find out what's happening in Bolingbrookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Township presented before the Village of Bolingbrook Planning and Zoning Commission in October 2023 only to be summarily dismissed without discussion.
At the January 23 Village of Bolingbrook board meeting the township was denied a zoning permit for construction. The board remanded it back to the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Despite the B-1 zoning which allows for a grocery store, village officials consistently raised concerns about parking and traffic.
“We sought the referendum in order to provide concrete proof of the public’s support of our plans,” said Marschke.
DuPage Township serves Bolingbrook, part of Romeoville and small portions of Lemont, Naperville and Plainfield.
