TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dustin Anderson, Director of Community Development
SUBJECT:
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Resolution Adopting the Downtown Joliet Equitable Transit Oriented Development Plan
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BACKGROUND:
At the May 16, 2023 City Council Meeting, the City accepted a grant award from the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) to complete a transit-oriented development plan for all areas within a half-mile of Gateway Transportation Center, including the 6.2 acre city-owned Lyon’s Lumber Yard site. The City’s 2015 Downtown Joliet Plan identified this site for a transit-oriented residential development and the need for a more diverse array of housing opportunities in the downtown.
The Downtown Joliet Equitable Transient Oriented (ETOD) Plan project started in early spring 2024. During the Downtown Joliet ETOD Planning process, the project team held:
• Four steering committee meetings
• One Interdepartmental staff meeting
• Two Community Open Houses: June 11, 2024 & May 14, 2025
• One Community Questionnaire Survey
• One Community Mapping Survey
• Nine stakeholder focus groups
• Presentations and status updates to City Center Partnership and neighborhood councils
The resultant Downtown Joliet Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD) Plan is an implementation focused plan that evaluated existing market conditions and recommends measures that:
• create diverse housing opportunities not currently available
• preserve attainable housing options for the existing residents
• increase ridership on existing transit services
• spur new investment in proximity to the Joliet Gateway Center
• enhance economic and cultural vitality of the Downtown
• advance mobility for residents, visitors, and transit users of all abilities
• improve connectivity of the Gateway Center to the broader Downtown
The Joliet Plan Commission reviewed the Downtown Joliet Equitable Transit Oriented Development Plan at its June 19, 2025 meeting and recommended approval by a 7-0 vote.
CONCLUSION:
The Gateway Transportation Center is the City’s central transit hub for Amtrak, Metra, and Pace, connecting Joliet to the Chicago metropolitan area and to cities farther away. Though the station sees hundreds of passengers pass through on a daily basis, the land around it is underutilized and disconnected from Downtown and the neighborhoods around it. This Downtown Joliet ETOD Plan creates a long-term vision and policy framework for the City to enhance the areas around the station into a vibrant, mixed-use district with housing and economic vitality for residents of all ages, income levels, and abilities. The Downtown Joliet ETOD Plan includes chapters on character areas, land use and development, urban design, and muti-modal transportation, and the Downtown Joliet ETOD Plan concludes with an Implementation Chapter that translates policy considerations from these topical chapters into direct action by detailing each policy consideration’s priority, potential funding sources, and appropriate agency or partner. The City can use the Downtown Joliet ETOD Plan to advance the area’s potential.
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Based on the above, it is recommended that the Mayor and City Council approve the attached Resolution adopting the Downtown Joliet Equitable Transit Oriented Development Plan.
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