Big industrial plans in Little Village grind to halt amid aldermen’s legal troubles

A year-long effort to coordinate industrial development in the Little Village neighborhood has ground to a halt thanks to the legal troubles of Alderman Danny Solis (25th Ward) and Alderman Ricardo Munoz (22nd Ward).

The city Department of Planning and Development’s scheduled presentation of the Little Village Industrial Corridor Modernization plan later this month have been postponed because officials can’t “confirm aldermanic availability,” a spokesperson told Block Club Chicago.

Solis, one of several aldermen whose wards include parts of Little Village, has been unavailable since news surfaced he has been under federal investigation since 2014. And Munoz, another Little Village alderman, has not been at City Hall since being charged Dec. 31 with attacking his wife.

Industrial development in the neighborhood has been the subject of public scrutiny from community groups who say it brings congestion and diesel pollution. Opponents object to Hilco Redevelopment Partners’ plan to build a $100 million, 1 million-square-foot industrial complex on the site of the former Crawford Power Plant, but the project won City Council approval anyway.

The goal of the Little Village industrial plan is to improve transportation and to set guidelines for future development in the area, according to Block Club.

Little Village is in an area of the Southwest Side that has seen a surge of industrial development recently, in part because of its proximity to the Stevenson Expressway. [Block Club] — John O’Brien