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Redevelopment Plans Revealed for Neighborhood

The Fairmont community comprised of nearly 2000 residents is an unincorporated neighborhood within Will County located between the cities of Lockport and Joliet that has been selected by Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, (CMAP) to work in conjunction with the county in creating a long range development plan for the neighborhood.

CMAP's Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program worked with Will County in drafting the revealed plan, which is a guide of Fairmont's future growth and focus on implementation Tuesday evening at Shiloh Baptist Church in Lockport. Drawings of the neighborhood plan were unveiled to the public for the first time seeking community input and their vision for the neighborhood moving forward.

In October 2010, CMAP was awarded a Sustainable Communities Regional Planning grant by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist with the implementation of GO TO 2040. With funding from this grant, CMAP has launched the Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, which involves providing assistance to communities across the Chicago metropolitan region to undertake planning projects that advance the principles of GO TO 2040.

According to CMAP's Trevor Dick, a Senior Planner for the agency, "The Fairmont community was chosen because Will County Land Use Department has a long range master plan and Fairmont is considered one of only a handful of "urban communities". Most of the projects in the county are green field, farm field and agricultural but this is a very dense neighborhood and a longstanding community over 100 years old that has density, storm water and infrastructure issues that makes the project unique from a lot of other unincorporated areas."

"One of the other determining factors in us doing the grant for the Fairmont neighborhood is that there is almost a 60% vacancy which is huge. 60% vacant lots, homes and structures which is one of the goals of our plan to focus on infill and try to fill in the cavities on each residential block."

The community will see a benefit soon because Will County received a grant to construct 1000 feet of sidewalk in front of the Fairmont Community Grade School along with three new bus shelters for residents that take advantage of public transportation which was revealed by District 8 Will County Board Member Denise Winfrey who sits on the project steering committee.

Winfrey said, "In talking to some of the people who came in tonight they are excited to hear that there is actually going to be a sidewalk in front of the school its been years and that has not happened and to know that there is money for the project an its going to happen is exciting for them."

The next step for the project will be a meeting between CMPA and the Will County Land Use Committee on February 14th to formally present the plan that will be available in its entirety on the Will County government website the following day.

(Top Photo: CMAP Senior Planner, Trevor Dick responds to questions from residents about the newly unveiled Fairmont neighborhood development plan at Shiloh Baptist Church Tuesday evening.)

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