By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Plainfield will move ahead with plans to develop a new tax increment finance (TIF) district along Route 30.
On Aug. 24, the joint review board, including members from Joliet Junior College, The Plainfield Public Library District, Plainfield School District 202, and the village met to discuss the proposed TIF district.
The proposal includes creating a TIF to engulf commercial properties along Route 30 from Renwick to Spangler Road, and the annexed properties near the interchange once slated for retail development as “The Boulevard.”
The eligibility study and redevelopment plan and project was developed by SB Friedman. Fran Lefor Rood, representing SB Friedman, gave a rundown of the proposal to the members of the joint review board.
“Property value here is not growing,” Lefor Hood said. “It’s doing more poorly than the rest of the village, and actually declined for three of the five periods [studied]. Deterioration we found throughout the area, 25 of the 26 parcels we found either building deterioration or surface infrastructure deterioration, so that might be on parking lots, curbs, or right of way.”
Lefor Hood added that 77 percent of the parcels inside the proposed TIF have inadequate storm water management, and several structures are non-conforming use, with 15 buildings not operating with current building code and in need of updating should rehabilitation efforts happen.
“People are not investing here as they are in other places. And so, we found that, but for the TIF we wouldn’t expect substantial development in this area,” Lefor Hood said.
The targeted redevelopment area is potentially slated for commercial development, but the plan leaves the door open for potential residential development.
The proposed TIF district consists of 37 tax parcels, 26 improved and 11 vacant. The proposed district covers 210 acres, which includes 24 buildings and 154 acres of vacant land.
The plan would target commercial and vacant properties for redevelopment, as well as the large interstate adjacent parcel where the old Clark Station once stood. While the actual parcel that held the Clark Station is inside the city of Joliet’s boundary, the 160 adjoining acres were annexed into Plainfield and subdivided into three lots in 2015. Plans to develop a commercial and retail site anchored by Costco were originally proposed in 2007, but scrapped the next year due to the recession. While those plans ultimately were nullified, the village said it is still open to development of retail at the site, including a big box store.
A study on TIF eligibility determined that the redevelopment project area has not been subject to growth and development through private enterprise and would not reasonably be anticipated to be developed without the use of a TIF district.
In simple terms, a TIF district is a way to allocate a portion of property taxes for redevelopment uses. TIF works by “freezing” the amount of taxes that taxing bodies within a district can collect at current year’s amount. As property taxes rise, the taxing bodies collect the same amount year after year, with the additional increments placed in the TIF fund. Those funds can then be used for infrastructure improvements and other incentives to attract business.
“The major objectives are to encourage redevelopment of the underutilized properties, and development of vacant properties,” Lefor Hood said.
By law, TIF districts are limited to a 23-year life span, but can be expanded for an additional 12 years by ordinance.
The proposed redevelopment is expected to cost $45 million over the course of those 23 years, which Lefor Hood said was the “high end” of what would be feasible for development under a quick timeline. Most of the anticipated expenditures would be on public works and improvements.
The joint review board approved the plan, which will now be forwarded to the village board and set for a public hearing.
A public hearing on the TIF proposal is set for Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Village Hall.
Following that meeting, the village could approve the plan in as few at two weeks, with a deadline to approve no later than three months after the public hearing.
The TIF redevelopment plan is available on the village website, at www.plainfield-il.org.