Photo by Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
The vacant land along Van Dyke Road south of Route 30 will soon hold a PACE park and ride facility. The village will also seek out responses from developers for ways to develop the additional vacant space around the facility, hoping to utilize the site for retail and/or commercial growth.
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
Members of the village board are moving full speed ahead with plans to build out vacant lots owned by the village near the planned PACE park-and-ride.
On Sept. 25, the Committee of the Whole got a first look at the request for qualifications (RFQ) draft document for the site known as P-3 Development Site. The village is soliciting responses from developers who are interested in developing the land adjacent to the planned PACE park-and-ride facility at Van Dyke Road south of Route 30.
The land is part of a previous purchase of 58 acres of farm land made by the village over a decade ago. The land was originally set to accommodate the proposed Suburban Transit Access Route (STAR) Line Railway project.
That plan, proposed in 2003, was eventually scrapped over a lack of cost-effectiveness.
The PACE park-and-ride will utilize about 10 acres of the site, leaving the additional area vacant and ready for development. The village would like to include a new PEMA facility on the site, as well as other retail and/or commercial development.
“This is consistent with the strategic plan,” Director of Public Works Allen Persons said.
The village held a public meeting on Sept. 14. Persons said residents, developers, investors, realtors and others came to that meeting, looking to learn more about the possibility of development through a public-private partnership.
“On the positive side, we didn’t get any negative feedback about… a possible public-private partnership for this piece of property,” Persons said. “Our goal with this property is to add value to the parcel, encourage economic development of the parcel, explore market opportunities and interests, and then facilitate the construction of a new PEMA facility.”
Persons said one of the many benefits of the public-private partnership is that, at this point, the ball still rests in the village’s court for how to proceed.
“At the end of the day, if we do move forward after the requests for proposals are received from different developers or investors, the board will have the option and the sole authority to determine what they want to do with the property,” Persons said. “This is not binding in any way, and staff would recommend that we continue in some fashion with the RFQ, because this is an opportunity to take a look and see, what can other individuals from the market provide to assist the village in developing this property.”
If approved by the full board next week, the village will accept RFQ proposals through November.
Meanwhile, the PACE bus depot is set to break ground next month, with an opening date of 2018.
“We are really excited about the PACE parking project,” Persons said. “It seems like when we started this, it was a long way away. But it’s a huge investment in the community when you include engineering and actual construction, over $5 million invested in the community and PACE is picking up the tab for this, so we’ve very happy about that.”
The scope of the project includes a 400-space parking lot, with future expansion to accommodate 600 cars.
The lot will include an entrance drive from Van Dyke Road, with a traffic signal and turn lanes off the roadway, and a shelter with washrooms included as part of the bus depot.
The concept plan for the new facility includes a 1,600-square foot building with restrooms. The site will be outfitted with LED lighting and security cameras, which will tie in with other security systems already in use in the village.
Approximately 250 people use the buses every day from Plainfield’s two stops. The two routes – Route 855 and Route 755 – consist of a total of 36 buses per day.