Kendall County Times

Eight residents of Joliet came out to the Sept. 6 City Council meeting to express their opinions on a   proposal to rezone land for the Kingsman Industrial Park from residential to light industrial. Seven spoke against the change and asked the council to vote against it, while one was in favor of the idea. 

Those opposed to the proposal said rezoning would affect home values, the health and safety of nearby neighborhoods, and it would go against the wishes of the community.

"Yes, bringing new businesses in is a great thing for Joliet (to) bring up (the) tax base," said Garland Mayes, commissioner of Joliet, but it has to be balanced with, "making sure that our residents are well taken care of and they feel safe in their community. We cannot burden these residents with something that they don't want.”

The rezoning would affect 25 acres and would reclassify the lots from 'single family homes' to 'light residential.' 

Members from planning and zoning reassured the residents that the zoning would bring small businesses like plumbers, painters, or other trades requiring a warehouse or small shop in the area, not large industries who are trucking things in and out all day long.

The developer is Ryan Hill who spoke about how the project has been designed and proposed to create a space for smaller businesses and to prevent a large scale operation from taking over the lot. He described the “industrial condos” he envisions for the lots, being a small office, shop, and storage space for trades and artisans. 

The motion passed on a vote of 5-3.