East Moline sizes up recently annexed land
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By Dustin Lemmon | Saturday, September 22, 2007 |
Some say progress is inevitable, and for that cliche to be true in East Moline, the city must develop land to its east, particularly recently annexed property around the interstates 80 and 88 interchange.
Earlier this month, the City Council approved annexing 75 acres around the interchange. East Moline already had annexed most of the land along Illinois 5, leading to the interchange, which is a few miles south of Rapids City.
Mayor John Thodos said if the city wants to expand its borders it has to go east.
“That area has been on East Moline’s radar for a long time,’’ he said.
City leaders already missed out on land to the south, which was annexed by Moline years ago, and are competing with Silvis and other smaller communities for some of the land left east of the Quad-Cities. The mayor sees the potential for more land to be annexed east of the interchange.
“We have learned if you just sit back, you can become landlocked,” Thodos said. “We cannot become landlocked.”
Over the next decade, he hopes to see development along the Illinois 5 corridor from the Quad-City Downs, which sits near the Morton Drive intersection, to the interchange. The area draws a lot of travelers from Chicago, Thodos said, noting anyone traveling west on either interstate will eventually pass through the interchange.
“As a logistical point of view, it’s got magnificent connections to all kinds of markets,” Thodos said.
The area is already seeing development with a new Federal Express facility under construction next to the Quad-City Downs. Nearby Triumph Foods is getting ready to build off Barstow Road, and a few miles west on Illinois 5, there is a new Wal-Mart nearly finished in Silvis.
The corridor is zoned for industrial use and already has several businesses on the south side of Illinois 5, which doesn’t become I-88 until it reaches the interchange. Thodos, however, sees the potential for retail and residential development as well.
For that to happen, more services will be needed. The city already has water service along the corridor but would have to build a potentially expensive sewer connection that would require lift stations, the mayor said.
Curtis VanGilder, who owns United Township Self Storage, which sits a few hundred yards southwest of the interchange, welcomes the annexation.
“I’m pro growth. There is no doubt about that, and I’d love to see more come out here,” he said. “What I’d really like to see is sewer out here.”
VanGilder bought the property where his storage facility is located four years ago with anticipation that the land around the interchange would eventually be developed.
“I think it makes a lot of sense being as close to the interstate as it is,” he said. “It’s putting a face on East Moline out here.”
Jean McAdam, an office manager at Bornquist Inc., which leases a property on the opposite side of Illinois 5 from the new Federal Express, hopes development will bring better Internet access to her business.
“I can see it including service if they’re developing the corridor,” she said. “It would mean better service.”
Harold Glasgow, who lives in a house on the south side of Illinois 5 near the Quad-City Downs, said he’s not surprised to see the city annexing more property to the east.
“It’s just progress,’’ he said. “They have to come out this way because they can’t go west.”
Glasgow said the city annexed his home and some nearby property he and his brother own about 10 years ago. He expected East Moline to eventually push farther out and possibly bring more development his way.
The only potential disadvantage Glasgow can see is a possible increase in his property taxes. If that happens, he could see moving back to Moline.
“I don’t know if they’re going to be able to squeeze us out eventually,” he said.
Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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