The Will County Land Use & Development Committee on Dec. 5 voted to postpone action on ZC25111, a proposed map amendment and special‑use permit to allow a clean construction and demolition debris (CCDD) fill on about 11.5 acres along Brandon Road in Joliet.

The request would rezone the parcel from agricultural (A1) to industrial (I2) so the owners could accept clean fill — crushed concrete, asphalt grindings and clean dirt — to raise the terrain of a former quarry pit. Planning staff recommended approval with four conditions, including compliance with Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) recommendations on habitat assessment.

In the hearing, the applicant’s attorney, Mr. Washburn, told the committee the site already has monitoring wells installed by Midwest Generation because an adjacent pit was used as a coal‑ash borrow area, and that the owner would comply with IDNR‑requested studies if the zoning change is approved. “We are fully willing to do that,” Washburn said, adding that the state’s permitting process and a county fill permit would both be required before any fill operations begin.

Nearby residents and community experts urged the committee to deny or delay the request. Property owner Patricia Nugent said county and federal inventories identify freshwater marsh and hydric soils on the parcel and warned that the area is underlain by a karst aquifer with sinkholes. Nugent urged the committee to require a targeted hydrogeologic and habitat assessment before rezoning: “A survey and habitat assessment on potential impacts to the freshwater marsh and the karst aquifer features located on this property need to be a condition of approval,” she said.

Kathy Helena, reading a letter by Mary Baskerville, told the committee lidar imaging and historical agency reviews identify fractured bedrock and prior contamination in nearby quarries and urged a water‑quality study before approving the site. A neighboring resident who said he took the photos submitted to the committee said tree clearing had recently occurred on the parcel, which opponents said undercut confidence in the applicant’s willingness to follow conditions.

County staff and Dave Harkey, director of the county’s Resource Recovery and Energy Division, described the permitting sequence: the county’s zoning approvals must come first before the state will consider a CCDD permit; Harkey said the state would review any permit application and that the county inspects CCDD facilities under its delegation agreement with the state. Harkey noted that state bonding and monitoring obligations apply to CCDD facilities.

Several committee members noted the missing IDNR habitat assessment referenced in the ECOCAT review and the IDNR email and questioned whether recent tree work violated the spirit, if not the letter, of future permit conditions. Member Newquist asked whether the IDNR study could be made a binding condition; staff and the applicant said compliance with IDNR recommendations had been proposed as a condition.

After deliberation, a motion to postpone the map amendment and special‑use permit to the committee’s February meeting passed by voice/roll call (4–2). The committee recorded that the special use would lapse if the applicant fails to secure necessary permits and establish the use within the statutory period if the state permit is denied or the applicant does not pursue it.

Next steps: the applicant may submit the additional studies and documentation to staff and the full county board ahead of the February meeting. If the committee ultimately recommends approval, the state CCDD permit — and any required mitigation measures referenced by IDNR or other agencies — would be required before operations could begin.