Letter To The Editor: Mayor Argoudelis On More Housing In Plainfield

A letter to the editor submitted to Patch by Plainfield Mayor John Argoudelis:

As we strive to make the Best Plainfield, I get a lot of inquiries from residents (which I welcome). One of the most common is why is more housing coming and being approved by the Village? Some of the good news is we have a great community with great amenities and people want to live here.

One issue we are dealing with is zoning and annexations which predate the 2008 economic crash — the Great Recession. Many parcels of land were zoned for housing pre-crash and then not developed because of the economic downturn. As these properties come before us now, they have the zoning already approved. Contrary to what some believe, the Village cannot change the zoning on a property without the owner’s request. What we are discussing internally and with the development community is to have future annexations provide that the developer only has the option to obtain this zoning if exercised within a period of time after approval. If not utilized within a reasonable amount of time, the land would have to come back before the Board for Zoning approval. Use it or lose it.

The proposed Lockley Park on 143rd Street and the large 37-acre lot adjacent to Wallin Woods are two examples of pre-crash zoning. These properties are zoned for the housing proposed and have an absolute legal right to proceed to develop without formal Board approval. The good news is that our Staff has and is working hard to ensure we have quality developments. On Lockley Park the land is zoned for around 250 units, but the current development plan would limit this to only 168 units and a full 41% of this development will be green space. As to the Wallin Woods parcel, another high-quality developer is working with Staff to ensure that the densities are not as intense as allowed and to ensure that the development is sensitive to Wallin Woods and Settler’s Park. I’ve also been involved in these discussions and can say unequivocally these developers are the best of the best in the marketplace and they are willing to accept our Staff’s proposals.

More housing is always a mixed bag. More residents do help drive our economy and keep the stores/restaurants we love open and thriving. They also have the highest burden on our services (schools, fire, police et al.) and roadways. Some question broadly our infrastructure. What does it mean? Well, the reality is we have plenty of water and sewer capacity and we have identified over $160 million in roadway improvements we intend to make over the next ten years. We are being very proactive here.

The school district has had a declining enrollment (over 29,000 students in 2010 down to around 25,000 today). Pre-crash we had a large growth spurt and those young families now have college-aged children and beyond. Because these young families have not been replaced, we’ve seen enrollment decline.

Traffic is the #1 concern regarding new housing. Traffic is a regional issue. Even if we were to stop all residential development and not issue another building permit for a new home, traffic would continue to flow through the Village of Plainfield and increase based on growth in the surrounding communities. New residential development does pay its way through impact fees and public improvements that benefit the community at no cost to taxpayers. For example, the Keller Farm project will add a southbound right-turn lane and signal improvements to the Lockport Street-Wallin Drive intersection and will reconstruct Wallin Drive to a three-lane cross-section with curb and gutter between Lockport Street and 143rd Street, including turn lanes at the Sixteen30 development.

The alternatives to having developers fund or complete public improvements are to have the Village fund them via higher taxes or to make no improvements at all.

Everything in life is a balance and understanding these parcels have an absolute legal right to develop shifts our focus to making sure what does develop is the very best for our community. I would be happy to discuss this and any Village business with any of our residents who may have more questions. Please send me an e-mail: Jargoudelis@goplainfield.com.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all.

Mayor John F. Argoudelis
Plainfield