Princeton council advances enterprise-zone expansion after NCICG presentation

James Deren of the North Central Illinois Council of Governments told the Princeton City Council that Marquis Landhold LLC has applied to add about 764.30 acres to the Bureau-area 2017 enterprise zone and asked Princeton to pass an amending ordinance to keep the regional application moving.

"If these additions were added, it would make the enterprise zone approximately 15.6 square miles out of 20 square miles total," Deren said, and he described the next steps: each of the eight affected units of government must pass an amending ordinance and then sign an intergovernmental agreement to finalize the expansion.

Council members asked how much capacity the zone would retain after the addition and whether residential property would be included. Deren said the expansion would leave more than four square miles — about 2,800 acres — of the 20-square-mile limit available and that, under current practice, the zone typically provides benefits for commercial, manufacturing and industrial uses rather than residential properties.

Deren told the council that several other units had tabled consideration in order to gather more information after public hearings. "There was a number of questions
. . . . Some public hearing concerns spoke of recently increased taxes for public expansion," he said, and he characterized reports that a data center is planned on the site as rumor at this stage because the application does not require a specific project to be identified.

Several council members noted past expansions, including a more limited recent addition for a grain facility, and said they wanted to signal support to keep the regional application moving. The council moved, seconded and then, on a roll-call voice, voted to advance ordinance O-26-015 to a second reading.

Next steps outlined by Deren require each participating unit to pass its own amending ordinance and authorize the chief elected official to sign the intergovernmental agreement; the presenter said the application process will continue only if a majority of the region's units complete those steps.

The council did not make a final decision on the enterprise-zone expansion tonight; advancing the ordinance allows the city to participate in the region's application process and schedules a formal second reading and vote at a future meeting.