Joliet committee previews interactive workshop to shape comprehensive plan

The committee steering the city’s comprehensive plan reviewed recent outreach, previewed the second community workshop and online participation options, and discussed how redevelopment incentives might affect focus areas.

Speaker 1 opened the meeting by summarizing the topic-area workshops held in December and January and saying, “We had in total over an estimated 230 attendees,” a mix of sessions that drew between about 15 and 50 people each. The city used Mentimeter during sessions to collect anonymous input and will produce a draft summary of themes for committee review.

Consultant Leslie Roth described the format for Community Workshop #2: four character-area stations (the mall area, Ridge Brook corridor, Legacy Eastside industrial area and the South Chicago/McDonough Street corridor), large boards with maps, and a crowdsourcing exercise where participants place program-element flags (parks, housing types, businesses, mobility features) on maps to indicate priorities. Roth said the exercise is intended to produce “conceptual plans and key recommendations” rather than parcel-level designs and that no funding or prioritization decisions will be made at this stage.

Committee members pressed staff on outreach and access. Speaker 1 said mailers targeted to residents within roughly a half-mile to one-mile of each character area are ready and will be mailed; the staff will also provide a shared folder with JPEGs and prewritten blurbs committee members can use. The team plans a multilingual online interface (“survey 2”) that will mirror in-person activities and remain open for a limited time after the workshop so residents who cannot attend can participate.

Education engagement drew attention: staff summarized a Jan. 9 superintendents roundtable held at Joliet Township High School’s administration building that included public and private school leaders, with Doctor Rouse among participants. Members cited rising per-student costs and special-education needs as reasons the district and city leaders benefit from coordinated conversation.

Members also discussed the mall-area redevelopment prospects and the challenge of securing owner participation. One committee member characterized the current owner as difficult to engage and noted market constraints and competing retail projects in the region. Separately, Speaker 8 reported that the city obtained certification for the RiverEdge tax-credit program (a DCEO-administered tax-credit certification), which staff said could make some redevelopment proposals more financially feasible; staff agreed to share a two-page explainer on the program with the committee.

In other business, staff reported the ETOD zoning project has officially kicked off with a consultant procured through the Regional Transportation Authority and that a small steering committee will be formed. The committee approved the minutes of the previous meeting and adjourned without further public comment.

The committee’s next steps include finalizing outreach materials, launching the online survey parallel to Workshop #2, circulating the workshop summary and sharing details about the RiverEdge tax-credit certification with members.