Frankfort trustees have approved zoning changes to lure a business from Mokena and also voted to allow a detailing shop to conduct online auto sales.
Trustee Mike Stevens said Ridge Landscape Services, a landscaping and snow removal company owned by Daniel Walski, is moving to a “triangular piece of property” at the northwest corner of Sauk Trail and Pfeiffer Road.
The land, which was rezoned from residential to agricultural, is near the upscale Prestwick subdivision. The village barred temporary storage structures, such as shipping containers, on the site and required that a 6-foot-high fence be built along the north and south edges of the property to conceal stored materials.
“During the summer, it will be mulch for his landscape business, and in the winter it will be salt for his snow removal business,” Stevens said.
Mayor Jim Holland said the traffic impact should be minimal.
Trustees also voted to allow TK Motor Sports, an auto detailing shop at 10315 Vans Drive, to offer online auto sales.
“There will be no more five vehicles being offered for sale at this site, all vehicles will be stored indoors and no repairs will be done on site,” Stevens said. “This location is just to the east of LaGrange Road, just south of the railroad tracks in a small industrial area.”
On another matter, Holland gave a friendly assessment of Gov. Bruce Rauner after Rauner’s recent appearances before a pair of Southland government groups. The mayor said the new governor appeared to soften his rhetoric on a plan for the state to keep half of the more than $1 billion in annual state income tax proceeds it sends to municipalities.
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“I think he gave a little bit on the Local Government Distributive Fund,” Holland said of the revenue sharing, which provides Frankfort with about $1.7 million a year. “The governor certainly deserves our support. He’s trying to change the direction of Illinois. He is trying to put our fiscal house in order, and I think that is commendable. He’s going to have to take some pretty severe action to do that, and he’s coming right up front and saying that. We’ll see where it all goes.”
Holland and Police Chief John Burica also encouraged residents to attend the seventh annual Men Who Cook fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Pipefitters Local 597 training center in Mokena. The beef brisket prepared by Frankfort police officers won best entree last year at the event, which raises money for the Will County Children’s Advocacy Center. Tickets are $40 a person or $75 per couple.
Patrick Guinane is a freelance reporter.