1 Street Extension in Mariano's Plan Passes Committee

By Michelle Mullins

Plans for a 73,000-square-foot Mariano’s grocery store and a 231-unit townhome and apartment complex are progressing after an Orland Park committee voted 2-1 on Monday to send the plan to the village board for consideration.

Residents living near the proposed plan in the Orland Crossing area northeast of 143rd Street and LaGrange Road, said they are not against the development itself, but oppose extending 140th Street and 141st Street to connect to the development.

Extending the streets, some residents said, would lead to an increase in cut-through traffic from those drivers who want to avoid the crowded main roads.

“I don’t see a detriment to the development by not having these streets go through,” resident Michael Raymond told the Orland Park development services and planning committee Monday.

Raymond said most of the nearby residents are “100 percent behind the development,” but extending the streets would be a safety issue and cause increased traffic congestion.

Resident Tom Mulvey presented the committee with a petition of 280 signatures of neighbors against extending the streets.

“We want the neighborhood protected,” he said.

The Orland Park Plan Commission last week agreed to a compromise and only extend 141st Street -- not 140th Street --  which was well-received by two of the three members of the village board’s planning committee members.

Trustee Kathy Fenton said she feels as though it is a “fair compromise” to the developers, village and residents to extend one and not both of the streets. She and Trustee Carole Griffin Ruzich voted in favor of extending only 141st Street and sending the plan to the village board for a final vote on December 16.

Casting the sole “no” vote, Trustee Edward Schussler said he hoped that the plan would restore the 140th Street connection. With the improvements to widen LaGrange Road and other roads throughout the village, he said he feels that people would not be using the neighborhood as a cut through.

Schussler added that closing off access is problematic for emergency vehicles to get to the neighborhood quickly.

What to read next about the Mariano's development:

• Pete’s Fresh Market: ‘We Are Building’ in Orland Park
• A Mariano’s Could be in Orland Park's Future
• Compromise on Mariano’s Plan: 1 Street Extended into Development Instead of 2

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