PLAINFIELD, IL — More housing, this time in the form of a proposed 168-townhouse development, will be the topic of discussion at a special Village Board meeting Monday, if trustees don’t first vote to remove the discussion from the table.
A developer is looking to build up to 168 townhouses on about 38 acres of vacant agricultural land on the southwest corner of 143rd Street and Steiner Road. The land, currently zoned to allow a townhouse development with up to 252 units, was originally annexed in 2004 as Pod 12 of a larger, 673-acre development called McMicken Assemblage.
Chicago-based M/I Homes is seeking a special use for planned development, known as Lockley Park, as well as approval of the corresponding site plan review and preliminary plat. The
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Monday’s agenda is structured so that the Board will first seek consideration of a motion to remove the matter from the table. If trustees deny it, they’ll move on to vote on approving the special use, the site plan review and lastly the preliminary plat.
The Plan Commission unanimously voted Oct. 3 to recommend approval of the development. Plainfield School District 202 and the Plainfield Park District also indicated their consent, Director of Planning Jonathan Proulx wrote in a report.
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When the Village Board discussed the project on Nov. 6, they were “generally supportive,” according to the document. Trustees asked the applicant to consider relocating one of the townhome buildings to provide more setback and separation from 143rd Street. In response, the applicant eliminated the building and redesigned another building to increase its four planned units to five.
Staff concluded the proposed development would be a “logical land use transition between the single-family residential to the south and east and the current and planned warehouse uses to the west and north,” according to village documents.
Ahead of the Village Board meeting, trustees will meet for a Committee of the Whole meeting, where they’ll discuss two items: whether they should regulate the condition and operation of rental housing in Plainfield as well as the Lockley Park development.
In a memo, Building Official Lonnie Spires writes there has been an increase in the numbers of single-family homes and multi-family going from being occupied by owners to absentee ownership and rental occupancy. Should the Village Board move forward with rental regulations, an ordinance could include a registry, licensing program and crime-free housing.
The program would be under the direction of the Building and Code Compliance Department with help from the Plainfield Police Department, the Administrative and Management Services, and the Planning Department.
Trustees will revisit the ordinance after last discussing it at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Sept. 11.
Directly following the workshop, trustees will move into a special Village Board meeting.
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