The Will County Board postponed making a decision Thursday on a quarry proposed for Wheatland Township over the objections of more than 100 residents and officials who sought the board’s denial of the project.
The board is being asked to rezone about 90 acres at the southeast corner of Essington Road and 127th Street in Bolingbrook from agricultural to industrial and to issue a special use permit so that the site can be mined and quarried with blasting or other explosives. The entire development is about 174 acres.
The property neighbors Bolingbrook and Plainfield. It’s about 1.5 miles northwest of Naperville.
After tabling the plan, the quarry proposal was moved to the board’s March 20 meeting.
Will County staff has recommended the board deny the project, which in addition to a zoning change, special use permit for mining also requires special use permits for concrete and asphalt mixing and for clean construction or demolition debris fill operations.
Artem Zakharov owns AZ Hard Rock, a nearby surface limestone quarry in the village of Bolingbrook that has about seven or eight years left of aggregate material to mine, according to county documents. AZ Hard Rock began operations in the 1970s.
Zakharov bought the adjacent property in 2022 to expand quarry operations, county documents said. The land contains limestone bedrock and a deep dolomite limestone underground deposit, and the materials mined on site can be used in roadway infrastructure projects, documents said.
Gary Davidson, an attorney for the quarry project, asked the County Board to continue the case for two months.
The villages of Bolingbrook and Plainfield and Plainfield School District 202 have objected to the new quarry as have thousands of residents who have signed petitions or voiced their concerns to their homeowners associations. Several hundred residents sent emails to county officials as well.
“I believe it will have devastating and long-lasting consequences for the surrounding community,” said Matt Eastman, director of community development for the village of Bolingbrook.
“If approved, residents would face persistent disruptions from noise, dust, debris and blasting. Industrial uses such as those proposed are fundamentally incompatible with residential uses and would severely diminish the quality of life for the thousands of families in the area.”
Eastman said residents bought their homes believing mining operations would remain confined to the existing quarry and not encroach upon their property.
In addition to several neighborhoods, the proposed site is near Liberty and Eichelberger elementary schools, Kennedy Middle School and Plainfield East High School.
Glenn Wood, superintendent of Plainfield District 202, said the district has concerns over pollution, noise, vibrations and the effect quarry blasting will have on the structural integrity of its schools, four of which are within a half mile of the site.
The district spent $1.5 million over the past two years improving the foundation at Liberty Elementary, which is less than 200 feet from the proposed quarry, he said. It’s also spent more than $500,000 to reenforce windows at Plainfield East High School.
Because of the objections to the plan, the zoning and permits requests would need approval from 17 of 22 Will County Board members.
Area residents who filled the county board room, spilled into the hallway and watched a broadcast of the meeting from an overflow room said they’d hoped the board would act on the proposal Thursday and not delay it.
Board member Frankie Pretzel, a New Lenox Republican and chair of the board’s land use and development committee, said he understood the inconvenience the delay caused for residents who took time out of their schedules and postponed going to work and school so they could appear before the board.
“The amount of attention this has gotten from local residents and elected officials is very uncommon,” he said. “We don’t see this every month.”
Pretzel said he hopes the applicant meets with concerned residents, their homeowners associations and village and school officials prior to the March meeting.
“Use this time to spend with these people who have taken time out of their lives to come and object here,” Pretzel told the land owner. “If I found out that you didn’t, you will not have my support at the March meeting.”
Among those who implored the board to deny the quarry project were Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta and Plainfield Mayor John Argoudelis.
“Not one of these 1,000 homes nor the people in them should be subject to the devastating effects on their air quality,” resident Megan Kruiswyk said.
Terrence Cottrell, 15, spoke out on behalf of his younger brother, who has autism.
“Sounds are louder to him. Vibrations feel stronger. He is incredibly sensitive to noise, and vibrations can cause him to feel anxious or frightened,” he said. “If this zoning is approved, these sounds will become part of his everyday life, all day long. Imagine the constant rumble of trucks, the drilling, the vibrations of the earth, the dust in the air. All of this will invade our neighborhood, and my brother won’t be able to escape it.”
Many students at the nearby schools also have autism and would be impacted by the quarry plan as well, the teen added.
“It’s a change in their world and it’s a change they don’t deserve,” he said.
Alex Deo brought his daughter Alaria, 7, to the meeting. Deo said he had concerns over the air pollutants and chemicals used in blasting and asked the board not to gamble with residents’ health. Studies show students attending schools near industrial zones have higher rates of asthma, developmental challenges and reduced academic performance, Deo said.
“This isn’t just another zoning decision,” he said. “This is a choice about what you value as a community. Will you prioritize the health of our children, the quality of their education and their right to a safe environment or will you put industrial profit above their well-being?”
Alaria, a second-grader at Liberty Elementary School in Bolingbrook, then stood on a chair so she could see above the podium to address the board.
“What if the air we breathe hurts our lungs,” she said. “What if it makes it harder for us to run and play, to learn or to grow up to be what we dream of? Please help keep Liberty Elementary safe not just for me but for my friends and all the kids who go there after us.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
