Committee Postpones Vote on Brandon Road Fill Operation After Tree Clearing Allegations

Will County Land Use & Development Committee Meeting | December 2025

Article Summary: The Will County Land Use and Development Committee voted to postpone a decision on a proposed clean construction and demolition debris (CCDD) facility in Joliet Township. The delay came after residents presented evidence suggesting the applicant may have cleared protected woodlands before receiving necessary zoning approvals.

Brandon Road Fill Operation Key Points:

• The Proposal: A map amendment from A-1 (Agricultural) to I-2 (General Industrial) and a special use permit for a CCDD fill operation on 11.5 acres at Brandon Road and Zurich Road.

• The Delay: The committee voted 4-2 to postpone the vote until the February 5, 2026, meeting.

• Resident Concerns: Objectors cited risks to the local karst aquifer, potential sinkholes, and the destruction of a forest habitat.

• Tree Controversy: Residents presented photos appearing to show recent tree clearing, despite a pending IDNR recommendation to avoid tree work until April 1 to protect endangered bats.

The Will County Land Use and Development Committee on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, voted to postpone a recommendation on a controversial fill operation proposal in Joliet Township following resident testimony regarding environmental concerns and unauthorized tree removal.

The applicant, Brandon Road CCDD LLC, is seeking to rezone approximately 11.5 acres of vacant land on Brandon Road from agricultural to industrial use to operate a clean construction and demolition debris (CCDD) fill site. The plan involves filling a significant depression on the property with construction debris such as stone, concrete, and dirt to grade it for future industrial development.

Attorney Nathaniel Washburn, representing the applicant, argued that the project would eventually improve the land for industrial use and that the fill would actually protect the underlying bedrock. He noted that the site is already subject to groundwater monitoring due to a nearby coal ash pit owned by a different entity.

“We do not believe that this will harm that,” Washburn said regarding groundwater concerns. “We are actually putting something between any water and [the bedrock] to try to help defer that further into the future.”

However, resident Patricia Nugent urged the committee to deny the request, citing the area’s “karst aquifer,” a geological formation characterized by fractures and sinkholes that allows surface water to travel rapidly into the groundwater supply without filtration. Nugent argued that placing fill over this terrain could threaten local wells.

Nugent also raised an issue regarding the property’s woodlands. She noted that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) had recommended that no work occur within wooded areas between April 1 and October 1 to protect the rusty patched bumblebee and the northern long-eared bat. Nugent presented photos taken days before the meeting appearing to show that the woods had already been clear-cut.

“They chose to spend money not on a biologist to assess the property, but to hire a company to clear-cut the woods,” Nugent told the committee.

Another resident, Dan, who lives on Brandon Road, shared photos on his phone taken December 3, showing crews grinding stumps. “I came back from Europe in November and pretty soon everything was different,” he said.

Washburn stated he was unaware of the tree removal prior to the hearing. “I don’t know when or what the scope of the work was done to the trees,” Washburn said, though he noted that since the special use permit has not yet been granted, the specific condition prohibiting tree work was arguably not yet in effect.

Committee members expressed frustration over the timing of the tree removal.

“Whatever proof you offer cannot be the word of your client because your client has already proven themselves to be questionable at this point,” Member Raquel Mitchell said.

Member Herbert Brooks moved to postpone the vote to allow the applicant time to provide answers regarding the tree removal. The motion to postpone passed 4-2.