Planning commission approves Dugan Park redevelopment plan, recommends 8AM–9PM park hours and extra restroom stalls

The Orland Park Planning Commission on April 15 approved the Dugan Park redevelopment plan, a package of entitlements that includes rezoning portions of the site from R3 residential to OS open space, a special-use permit for recreational facility lighting with a modification on light trespass, a sidewalk variance, and approval of the project site and landscape plans subject to conditions.

Ray Piattoni, Director of Recreation and Parks, and designers from Christopher Burke Engineering presented plans that call for ten lighted pickleball courts, lighting added to two existing tennis courts, a new restroom/shelter pavilion near a playground, reconfigured north and south parking lots, a larger soccer field, a smaller youth baseball field and associated landscaping. The proposal removes two elements that had been in the earlier concept — bocce courts and a sledding hill — because of grant conditions and to meet grading and drainage needs.

The village has secured an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources worth $600,000 for the project; because bocce courts and the sledding hill were part of the original grant application, the village must get state approval before removing those elements.

Key site details presented: the north parking area will be reconfigured and expanded (staff cited roughly 91 spaces, including 4 ADA spaces); the south lot would be squared off and provide about 42 spaces, including 2 ADA spaces. Designers said the project adds consolidated restroom facilities (two single-occupancy restroom units in the new pavilion) and will provide a portable restroom near the south athletic fields during events. The pickleball complex is designed with perimeter fencing, dividing fences between courts, seating shelters, and court lighting; landscaping will include approximately 18 new trees along Park Lane and additional plantings across the site.

Engineers described drainage changes intended to reduce on-site flooding. The design adds a new detention basin at the southwest corner of the park and grades the site so stormwater flows into that basin; engineering team members said the pond provides roughly 2.5 acre-feet (~4,000 cubic yards) of detention and the project will be permitted through the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) watershed management process. Staff said the grading and detention improvements are expected to reduce the park—s chronic sogginess north of the pedestrian underpass, although speakers noted any new drainage connections will require MWRD review and permitting.

Residents raised operational and neighborhood impacts at the hearing. Speakers expressed support for improved recreation but asked about parking capacity, evening light hours, potential tournaments drawing nonresidents, and whether the site will remain usable after heavy rains. Staff said the code permits illuminated recreational facilities to operate until 10:30 p.m. (lights extinguished by 10:45 p.m.), but the recreation department and staff expect to propose earlier, more restrictive hours (staff suggested a target such as 8 or 9 p.m.) and will present an operations plan to the Recreation Advisory Board and the Village Board. Commissioners asked staff to return a recommendation to the Village Board on operating hours; when the commission took that step it voted to recommend park hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and also asked staff to consider adding additional restroom stalls.

Planning staff recommended approval of: rezoning four of seven parcels from R3 to OS, a special-use permit for recreational facility lighting with a modification to allow up to 0.5 footcandle of light at the north property line where the site abuts residences, a variance to avoid constructing a new sidewalk extension in a quarter-mile radius where slope and drainage make a sidewalk impractical, and site and landscape plan approval subject to final engineering and landscape revisions and outstanding review comments. The Planning Commission voted to accept staff—s recommendations with the additional recommendation to the Village Board on hours and restrooms.

If the Village Board approves the project and necessary permits are obtained, staff hopes to issue bid documents in April and begin construction this summer. The OSLAD grant requires the project to be completed by March of the program year; staff said they may request an extension to meet the grant schedule.