Will County Board postpones vote on proposed quarry rezoning after hours of public comment

The Will County Board postponed a final vote on rezoning case ZC24-066, a proposal to rezone about 173 acres near Essington Road and 127th Street for mining and intensive industrial uses, until the board’s March meeting after a motion to delay carried on Jan. 16.

The postponement came after more than two hours of public testimony in opposition from elected officials, parents, teachers and homeowners. Chair Pretzel moved to postpone the item to March “to give the applicant time to meet with the villages of Bolingbrook and Plainfield, the Plainfield School District and neighborhood groups,” and the motion was seconded by County Board Member Butler. The motion carried; the county clerk reported “14 in the affirmative.”

Why it mattered: The proposal would change agricultural zoning to I3 industrial and allow quarrying with blasting, concrete and asphalt mixing, and disposal of clean construction and demolition debris near established subdivisions and several schools. Speakers said the rezoning would place blasting, heavy truck traffic and industrial operations closer to neighborhood property lines and to Liberty Elementary and other Plainfield schools.

Village and school leaders called for denial. Matt…