Almost
two dozen neighbors of what is expected to be a large Frito-Lay distribution
center along Interstate 55 near the Chatham exit left a Springfield City
Council meeting frustrated July 16.
The council voted 6-3 in favor of zoning variances allowing the
project to move forward.
Voting in favor were Alds. Chuck Redpath of Ward 1, Lakeisha
Purchase of Ward 5, Brad Carlson of Ward 7, Erin Conley of Ward 8, Jim Donelan
of Ward 9 and Ralph Hanauer of Ward 10.
Voting against were Alds. Roy Williams of Ward 3, Larry Rockford
of Ward 4, and Jennifer Notariano of Ward 6. Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory was
absent from the vote.
Representatives of Lakeview Acres LLC, the company that would
develop the land and lease the proposed 226,800-square-foot facility to the end
user, said the soonest construction could begin would be spring 2025.
Lakeview officials and Frito-Lay representatives have declined to say
whether Frito-Lay would be the end user, but Illinois Times has confirmed the snack food company’s involvement in
a site that would cost between $30 million and $51 million to build, based on
industry estimates.
The council’s decision on zoning didn’t require disclosure of an end user.
Taylor Bass, a manager from Becknell Industrial, which is assisting the developer of the site – currently a farm field – said Lakeview will work with the Illinois Department of Transportation to determine whether and where additional traffic signals and turning lanes need to be installed along Palm Road and at Lakewood Drive to help regulate traffic flow.
Lakeview would pay for any road improvements or signals, Bass
said.
Neighbors who turned out, clapping loudly and yelling to express
their opposition to the project, said the project would bring unwanted noise,
dust, traffic congestion and potential danger to school buses transporting
Ball-Chatham School District students.
“It’s going to be an eyesore,” Melissa Smith told council members. “This is the entrance to Springfield. This is very alarming.”
Council members who supported the project, which would be in Ward 1, indicated they supported it because the approximately 30-acre site already is in an industrial zone and the project would potentially create hundreds of good-paying jobs for people who don’t need college degrees to be hired.
Rockford said he is in favor of bringing new jobs to Springfield
but sympathized with the neighbors’ concerns and wished there would have been
“more discussion” before a final vote.
Williams said he would have preferred that the distribution center
be located closer to his ward on the east and north sides of the city to make
jobs at the center more accessible to his constituents.
Ryan McCrady, president and chief executive officer of the
Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, said information about potential sites
throughout Springfield were shared with the developer. But he said final
decisions on purchasing land and proceeding with zoning approval are up to
developers and can be influenced by whether landowners are willing to sell.
The building at the distribution site would be 45 feet high. A
fence surrounding the site would be 8 feet tall, with 2 feet of barbed wire on
top.
Variances were needed because of several factors, including the size of the fence – higher than normally allowed – and to allow the building height to exceed the maximum 35 feet currently allowed.
He said an earthen berm to be constructed on the west side of the
site and adjacent to four-lane Palm Road would largely obscure the site from
the view of residents living west of Palm and reduce noise reaching the
neighbors.
But Brad Metzger, another neighbor, said the site would “distract
from the aesthetic appeal of our neighborhoods.”
Neighbor Fred O’Connor said the project would cause home values to
plummet.
“They could go to another area,” O’Connor said. “You don’t build
on an exchange. You want to build near an exchange.”
He asked council members: “Would you want this in your
neighborhood? I don’t think you would.”
Bass said the site is an ideal location for a large distribution
center. He estimated that up to 50 or 60 tractor-trailer trucks would be transporting
goods to and from the site each day once fully operational.
Smith said the site is not within Sangamon Mass Transit District boundaries, so city buses wouldn’t transport people to and from the site. But Hanauer said, however, that Sangamon/Menard Area Rural Transit, which operates vans to transport people to rural parts of Sangamon County, would be available to serve workers at the site who schedule rides ahead of time.
The Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission voted 9-1 on June
20 to recommend City Council approval of zoning for the project.
