Strip Mall Needs Road to Be Closed, Memorial Moved
The 10,000-square-foot development is proposed for land next to the Route 59/Main Street Walgreens.
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A new strip mall will be built on Route 59 near Main Street – if the village agrees to close a portion of Oak Street and move the American Legion war memorial to Settlers' Park to accommodate the project.
The 10,000-square-foot development on a site next to the Walgreens at 14902 S. Route 59 needs the additional land in order to be economically viable, village Planner Michael Garrigan said Monday. The space would allow for up to eight new storefronts to be built, one of which could have a drive-through window, he said.
A concept plan submitted by developer Lee Fry Companies Inc. of Naperville won the village plan commission’s endorsement last week, and will go before the Plainfield Village Board next week, Garrigan said.
Were approval to be granted, a final development plan could be submitted over the winter and construction could begin as soon as spring, he said.
But two fairly significant aspects of the project – the war memorial and the public street closure – will need to be negotiated so the village is compensated for the property and the cost to move the monument, Garrigan said.
Both are doable, he said, but village trustees have not had a chance to publicly weigh in on either.
A proposal to close the one-block portion of Oak Street that intersects with Route 59 was broached earlier this year when Route 59 reconstruction and widening was under way. At that time, some residents objected to the idea because of the inconvenience of losing a street they routinely use. It was also suggested a one-block portion of Arnold Street, which is one block south of Oak, could be closed instead.
There are no houses or businesses on either street.
In This article
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Settlers' Park
24403 W Lockport St, Plainfield, IL -
Plainfield Village Hall
24401 W Lockport St, Plainfield, IL
Charles McKinney
11:49 pm on Monday, September 26, 2011
The war memorial has needed to be moved for YEARS. It should be in a place like Settlers Park where you can actually see it, rather than just drive past.
PfieldJim
8:27 am on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Another strip mall on Rt 59???? It would make more sense to place a hold on any new strip mall development until the existing store fronts are at least 75% occupied??? There are already many empty spaces up and down Rt 59. Do we really need more empty spaces in this economy that just illustrate the lack of new business, continued failure of existing efforts, and lack of planning to control the situation?
Brian Bart
9:47 am on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
This is a great opportunity to get private money to move the memorial that like as mentioned above, needed to be moved for years. The possible drive up access on one of the units is a great idea, for all the traffic east/west bound on Route 126, there is no good place to stop in a drive through for a bite to eat for lunch or quick cup of coffee in the morning.
True, we have many vacant strip malls throughout Plainfield & our country. In the close surrounding downtown area of town, there are not a whole lot of vacancies. With some careful planning & design I think this would be a nice addition to our downtown commercial area.
mario
12:02 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Let's get real, there is too much traffic in this area. If one were to stop for food from their way home from work, the line to get out alone would have you serving cold food. We don't need more congestion. In regards to our downtown area, its like lipstick on a pig. Let's start getting rid of some places. And let's start with that dance place and other buildings that do not complement the area
John Bates
12:40 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
The idea used to be that the property where the stone house was (where the strip mall is going) and other properties on Rt. 59 in the downtown area were supposed to be Business Transition and not strip malls. These types of businesses retain the appearance of Rt. 59 and don't have a lot of traffic in and out. A strip mall would make it hard to keep other similar developments from coming in on Rt. 59 which would be a change in character of the region.
Ed Arter
12:50 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
With the completion of the 59 widening project we now have a well designed growth corridor--Rt 59 from 143rd to Renwick and beyond. Any one against exploring development along this improved corridor only needs to flash back to the Fox Valley Mall area at Rt 59 and Rt 34 of 1993. -- just look at that areas retail tax revenue --Replace the referenced "Rt 59 and Rt 34" and find "Rt 59 and Rt 30" and change the date to 2013, then realize the potential to lower our taxes via mega sales generated by this expansion of retail. Our corridor has all the potential of being cash cow for this village and a great opportunity to move the Memorial to a place where it can be respected in a proper surround. A Saftey factor also is complimented by closing down the crazy angled street to traffic turning onto Rt 59. DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY ( remember our 1960s short sighted mistake at Louis Joliet Mall?-West field) Lets start acting like a community of -40,000 ---- It's called progress
Jason
11:35 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Ed....where should Plainfield put the roving taco cart?
Ed Arter
11:05 am on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Hello Situation,
I think the right fit for that cart would be right next to the world famous Flea Market at Rt 55 & 30 .
Joel Craig
10:39 am on Thursday, September 29, 2011
While I generally agree with everything Ed (and Brian Bart above) has to say in the comments, I'm just not sure this is the place for a development of this size or type. Considering we've just fixed traffic flow issues in this area, you can not now create an instance where NB traffic is going to be bottle-necking here attempting to turn left. It's not only unsafe it's just bad traffic planning. It's not always about the money.
mario
4:40 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Ed, I agree on progress but I would prefer a general plan of where we want to be in 20 years and not a piece meal plan like this sounds. People want coffe in the morning go to 7 11, its right there. The problem is that it is against the flow of traffic in the morning and hard to make a left from there. A dunkin or coffee place on the right side would be great but it does not have the land that is needed to accommodate the flow of traffic. Perfect example of poor planning. We maybe 40,000 or higher but we continue to only think like we are 8,000. How about commercial development instead of service. How do we bring business here
Sheila Raddatz
8:39 pm on Tuesday, September 27, 2011
North Plainfield already has 3 Dunkin Donut locations on 59.......
richard
11:05 am on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Moving the monument is a good idea,closing that half block of Oak street is O.K. but the picture is of the wrong monument!
richard
11:07 am on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
I think closing the half block of Oak st. is O.K., and moving the monument is a good idea but the picture is of the wrong monument!
Ed Arter
11:09 am on Thursday, September 29, 2011
Thanks Joel,
You are correct--Any "angled" intersection presents saftey issues and design challenges. I'm sure the developers will have to address this before they are allowed to build.
Greg
4:09 am on Friday, September 30, 2011
I wouldn't worry about traffic as there is no need for another strip mall. More vacant store fronts shouldn't impact traffic. Just what we need. Last I checked there are a couple of places closed down on main street so their is space open . They can't give away the building that Baci was in. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. INSANITY