DRAFT - FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY Land Use & Community Design | 5 SECTION 5 LAND USE & COMMUNITY DESIGN This section provides an assessment of the land use characteristics Today, Romeoville is a dynamic, maturing community located along that comprise the Village of Romeoville and its planning area. the I-55 corridor in northern Will County. The Village covers approx- imately 19 square miles and had a population of almost 40,000, as LAND USE report by the 2010 U.S. Census. Romeoville's growth is attributed to its many unique natural, civic, and transportation assets, including: In many ways, Romeoville has maintained a strong connection to waterfront access to the Des Plaines River and I&M Canal; location its industrial heritage, including access to the railroad, Des Plaines along the historic Route 66 (IL Route 53); premier interstate access; River, and I&M Canal. While industry has diversified in production, a well-regarded regional airport; opportunities for higher education delivery systems, and location away from the waterfront and railroad and towards major roadways, Romeoville still maintains a prominent industrial character, with about 41% of assessed valuation of proper- ty comprised of industrial uses. ROMEOVILLE'S INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE t Since its early railroad days, Romeoville has a long history of industry, even as production has evolved and the delivery network has transitioned from the railroad to the waterfront to the interstate highway system. This industrial heritage will continue to be one of Romeoville’s de- fining characteristics, with an emphasis to improve and expand the commercial base in the future. Local, regional, and national eco- nomic changes over the last decade require a new vision consistent with the aspirations and needs of the Romeoville community. The Romeoville’s current 2001 Comprehensive Plan is no longer Village’s current 2001 Comprehensive Plan is no longer capable of capable of guiding the Village over the next ten years, guiding the Village over the next ten years, particularly in a housing market and economy that were significantly altered by the reces- particularly in a housing market and economy that were sion. A growing senior population and the rise of the millennial gen- significantly altered by the recession. The Comprehensive eration supplement these economic conditions. The Comprehen- Plan Update must consider development trends, such as sive Plan Update must consider development trends, such as new urbanism, transit-oriented development, Complete Streets, and new urbanism, transit-oriented development, Complete mixed use development practices, that have evolved since 2001 but Streets, and mixed use development practices, that have were not previously recognized. evolved since 2001 but were not previously recognized. VILLAGE OF ROMEOVILLE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE Community Assessment Report 29 5 | Land Use & Community Design DRAFT - FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY at Lewis University, Rasmussen College, and Joliet Junior College; and a soon-to- FIGURE 5.1 open Metra Station on the east side of town. The Village has capitalized on its Comparison of Land Use Composition in location within one of the most active and successful industrial development Romeoville & Neighboring Municipalities corridors within the Chicago metropolitan region. As a result, Romeoville’s in- Source: CMAP Land Use Inventory dustrial base compromises 30% of the planning area, with 19% in residential uses (primarily single family) and commercial development. ROMEOVILLE During the public engagement process, several community leaders identified the need to examine the appropriate relationship or amount of land in the Village devoted to different land uses, expressing concern that Romeoville may need to diversify its land uses, now currently dominated by single-family residential and various industrial uses. As illustrated in the charts in Figure 5.1, a comparison of the land use composition of neighboring communities reveals that Romeoville has a similar amount of land devoted to single-family residential, multiple-family residential, and commercial uses to most of its neighbors, with the exception of BOLINGBROOK Crest Hill which has almost twice the amount of multiple-family residential, and commercial use in Bolingbrook which is double that of Romeoville. However, Romeoville's industrial sector comprises the highest percent of land in the Vil- lage at 30%, more than one-third higher than Bolingbrook. Romeoville’s growth over the past 20 years, and that of adjacent municipalities, has resulted in a community that can now be considered a maturing village due to little growth potential existing outside its current municipal limits. The proximity to neighboring communities, as shown on the Planning Area Map in Figure 1.2 in Section 1, restricts Romeoville's ability to grow through new annex- CREST HILL ations. Therefore, growth will occur primarily on existing vacant, underutilized, and older properties that may be subject to redevelopment. As the map in Figure 1.2 indicates, Romeoville maintains boundary agreements with Boling- brook, Woodridge, Lemont, Lockport, Joliet, and Plainfield, but lacks an agree- ment with Crest Hill. LOCKPORT PLAINFIELD VILLAGE OF ROMEOVILLE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE 30 Community Assessment Report FIGURE 5.2 ExistingExisting Land Use Land Map Use Map 00.25 0.5 1 Miles ° LASTSources: REVISED: Village ofOCTOBER Romeoville 4, GIS;2016 CMAP Land Use Inventory N WEBER RD 95TH S KINGS RD RAMP W BOUGHTON RD LILY CACHE LN NAPERVILLE-PLAINFIELD RD NAPERVILLE-PLAINFIELD 55 INTERNATIONALE PKWY VETERANS PKWY 267 S JOLIET RD S SCHMIDT RD SCHMIDT S W HASSERT BL HASSERT BL DR BOLINGBROOK S 355 W NORTH FRONTAGE RD S WEBER RD WEBER S JOLIET RD RT 53 N WEBER RD WEBER N S NEW AV RAMP DALHART AV DALHART W 127TH S ESSINGTON RD ESSINGTON S RAMP 263 REAGAN BL REMINGTON BL N WEBER RD WEBER N W NORMANTOWN RD NEW AV W 135TH W 135TH E ROMEO RD W ROMEO RD RAMP NEW AV W RT 126 ROMEOVILLE BL INDEPENDENCE N 261 S BUDLER RD BUDLER S S NEWAV N WEBER RD WEBER N W TAYLOR RD SE FRONTAGE RD FRONTAGE SE S ARCHER AV W 151ST S SOUTH CREEK PKWY CREEK SOUTH S W AIRPORT RD W LOCKPORT W LOCKPORT W AIRPORT RD W LOCKPORT N STATE S S INDEPENDENCE BL NEW AV S WEBER RD WEBER S 55 THORNTON W RENWICK RD LEGEND W 9TH E 9TH Commercial Industrial & Manufacturing S STATE 257 RAMP GAYLORD RD GAYLORD Institutional GARFIELD E DIVISION 257 Light Industrial & Office W DIVISION S BROADWAY W 16TH DIVISION S GAYLORD RD Multi-Family Residential PLAINFIELD RD S WEBERRD Open Space & Recreation VOYAGER LN Single Family BRIGGS S Residential Waterways & Detention AYLORD RD AYLORD G 31 5 | Land Use & Community Design DRAFT - FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY IMPACT OF LOCAL & REGIONAL PLANNING EFFORTS Previous plans prepared by the Village, Will County, regional agen- form, typically developed without a strong sense of place and with- cies, and adjacent communities can have a direct or indirect influ- out “centers,” or focal points as would be seen in an historic down- ence on Romeoville’s planning efforts. Below is a summary of the town. The Plan recognizes that typical suburban communities are impacts of relevant planning documents. newer, and are characterized with an automobile dependent land use pattern, where education and recreation facilities are not easily 2001 ROMEOVILLE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN accessible, which can tend to isolate people and discourage a sense Romeoville’s most recent 2001 comprehensive Plan identifies of community. The Will County plan encourages suburban commu- boundary agreements with Plainfield to the west, and Bolingbrook nities to consider the following planning guidelines or “keystones:” to the north, and Joliet and Crest Hill to the south. The 2001 Plan, and the East Side Plan update in 2012 identified Smith Road and q A greater mix of land uses should be encouraged to reduce 143rd Road as the Village’s limit of expansion to the east/southeast. the dependency on the automobile. For example, small- Emphasis of the plan was the expansion of primarily single-family scale commercial and service uses can be built near residen- residential neighborhoods, significant development of commercial/ tial areas if designed properly with methods that mitigate mixed uses along Weber Road, continued expansion of industrial negative land use impacts. Similar or duplicative land uses uses, and connection of the existing open spaces, forest preserves, should be dispersed where practical; for example, rather and conservation areas through a system of greenway corridors. than have multiple large grocery stores clustered in a few Similar to the current planning process, the previous plan focused on two subareas providing for the creation of a town center area, which consisted of residential, commercial, civic, and mixed use buildings at the previous Spartan Plaza area along Weber Road in the vicinity of Romeo Street and South Carillon Boulevard. FIGURE 5.3 EAST SIDE PLAN Proposed Romeoville Metra Station With the plans underway to establish a new commuter rail station Area Preferred Concept Plan in Romeoville along the Metra Heritage Corridor (HC) rail line, the Source: Romeoville East Side Plan 1 | Concept Plan Village has taken a proactive planning approach and adopted a LAND USE LEGEND conceptual development plan for the station area and land east of Single Family Single Family the Des Plaines River. This plan focuses on the strategies and a mix Detached Residential Detached Residential LOT SIZE: 20,000 sq ft LOT SIZE: 15,000 sq ft A DENSITY: 1.5-2 du/ac B DENSITY: 2- du/ac of land uses that will benefit from commuter rail service, enhance PROPOSED HIGH ROAD REALIGNMENT Segment north of 15th Street to M Single Family Single Family the multimodal connectivity to and from the station area, and make remain for local industrial truck traffic G access only; current public access will Detached Residential Detached Residential G be restricted once this area redevelops LOT SIZE: 12,000 sq ft LOT SIZE: 10,000 sq ft the East Side viable for transit-oriented development.