Public hearing July 5 on business district at Illinois 173, I-90

By Bob Balgemann

REPORTER

A public hearing will be held at 5:55 p.m. July 5 on creating a business district project area at Illinois 173 and Interstate 90.

The purpose is redevelopment of the underutilized area through imposing a hotel operators’ occupational tax along with additional retailers’ utilization taxes and service occupational taxes. Those taxes are expected to be imposed at a rate of 1 percent.

Revenue from the district will be used according a proposed Machesney Park Interstate 90 and Route 173 Business District Plan and Eligibility Study being prepared by Kane, McKenna and Associates.

Dollars also will pay Business District project costs.

A copy of the proposed Business District Plan is available for inspection at Village Hall, 300 Roosevelt Road in Machesney Park.

During the public hearing interested residents will be able to file written objections to the plan with Village Clerk Lori Mitchell, as well as to verbally address the matter.

The public hearing is being held five minutes before the start of the bimonthly village board meeting. The board meeting is being held on Tuesday, instead of Monday, because of the 4th of July holiday, when Village Hall will be closed.

There already has been a measure of activity at 173 and I-90, through existing the Park 90 and proposed Puri 173 developments.

Park 90, a business park at that location, has three occupied buildings with 230,000 square feet under roof. A matching grant from the Illinois Dept. of Transportation allow construction of the Lyford/Greenlee road, leading north of Route 173, and into the park. Signalization of the intersection and a path also were part of the project.

“There has been interest in Park 90 properties,” said James Richter II, village community development coordinator. The village, along with Rockford Area Economic Development Council, have been submitting information on available properties to prospective users.

Puri 173 covers 93 acres and is located northwest of the Route 173 and I-90 interchange. The southern 59.4 acres are zoned commercial general with the northern 33.9 acres being zoned light industrial.

Preliminary plans call for subdividing the three current parcels into seven lots, five of them commercial and two industrial. The lots would range in size from 3.98 acres to 23.9 acres.

Richter said First Midwest is marketing those properties and is in the process of subdividing them, as mentioned above, to create marketable lots.