Zoning questions are delaying development plans for more than 300 acres between 191st Street and Interstate Highway 80.
Trustees agreed this week that the land nearest the expressway should be zoned industrial, especially the portion proposed for a 170,000-square-foot research and development company. But they could not agree on how much of the commercially zoned land fronting 191st Street should be reserved for sales-tax producing retail businesses.
Community Development Director Paul Gorte said village staffers suggest reserving half the commercial land for retail stores.
Chuck Smith, the architect, said developers he surveyed favored a mix of retail and service businesses along 191st Street in the three proposed business parks–Silo Creek Business Center, Corporate Corridors North and Spring Lake Corporate Center.
But Trustee Laura Rusiniak said she was “perplexed” by that view. “Orland [Park] and Tinley [Park] are jammed with retail [stores],” said Rusiniak, noting that Mokena needs to guard its land even if the means “putting the brakes on” development until the village’s comprehensive plan can be retooled to make Mokena more attractive as a retail site.
Large, well-known anchor stores would be needed to devote the whole 191st Street frontage to retail, Trustee John Mazzorana said.