Galewood residents look at the Armitage Industrial Corridor map during a July 18 corridor planning kickoff meeting. (Photos by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development is working on a plan that will guide the future of the Armitage Industrial Corridor on the city’s West Side.

The corridor developed around the section of the Milwaukee District West Metra line between Oak Park and Cicero avenues. Most of it is a Planned Manufacturing District, a special zoning designation set up to preserve industrial jobs by making nonindustrial uses off limits. For the past decade, the city has been reviewing PMDs throughout Chicago, which usually result in zoning protections being either reduced or removed entirely.

The Armitage corridor review comes as one of its major longtime businesses, the Mars Wrigley candy factory at 2019 N. Oak Park Ave, is closing. According to a DPD study, the corridor doesn’t offer as many jobs as it used to, and manufacturing accounts for a smaller share of the jobs that are still there. DPD city planner Todd Wyatt told Chronicle Media that the goal of the study was to make sure the corridor would continue to create jobs, even if they are not manufacturing jobs.

The department held a kickoff outreach meeting on July 18. It is also soliciting feedback online, and it will do outreach at the Galewoodstock neighborhood music festival on Aug. 24. Wyatt said that DPD hopes to finalize the plan by winter.

The Armitage corridor forms the dividing line between the North Austin and Galewood neighborhoods

The historic White Cap Bottle Co., which has been vacant since 2002, looms over the Armitage Industrial Corridor.

to the south and Montclare and Belmont-Cragin neighborhoods to the north. According to the DPD study, most of the employees live in those neighborhoods, as well as the Dunning, O’Hare and Logan Square neighborhoods farther out. A substantial number of workers also come from farther south, especially Chicago’s North Lawndale and Little Village neighborhoods and west suburban Cicero.

A DPD study showed that, even before the Mars announcement, the number of jobs declined from 3,583 in 2002 to 2,133 in 2021. In 2002, manufacturing accounted for 70 percent of all jobs in the area, but that dropped to 49 percent by 2021. Meanwhile, the percentage of jobs in business support services went up from 3 percent to 32 percent.

When Mars Wrigley announced the factory’s closure in 2021, it worked with community organizations to develop a plan for the property’s future after it fully shuts down later this year. The plan calls for mixed-use development with housing, business incubator, urban farm and industrial business components — something that would require zoning changes.

The stated goal of the corridor framework plan studies is to “strengthen Chicago’s industrial corridors as economic engines and vital job centers.”

The section of the Armitage Industrial Corridor that includes the abandoned Beardsley & Piper building (left).

The North branch Corridor Plan, which dealt with three industrial corridors on and around Goose Island, relaxed the industrial zoning, opening up north and south portions to residential and commercial development. The Kinzie Corridor plan for the traditionally industrial areas in what is now West Loop and Near West Side took away PMD entirely for the section east of Ogden Avenue while preserving industrial uses farther west. On the other hand, the Ravenswood Corridor retained the industrial zoning.

Jonathan Snyder is an executive director of North Branch Works, a community development organization that supports North Branch industrial businesses, said that, while he wasn’t there when the city changed to zoning, he saw the effects of it first-hand.

“You have challenges, because the new [residents] may not understand that there’s industrial business right next door, that might have odor, they might have trucks coming in,” he said.

Snyder argued that the city should support industrial jobs, noting that they don’t require a college degree and pay well, which is the money that can improve neighborhoods.

“Industrial sector makes up 11 percent of the city’s GDP, and It is a very important sector,” he said. “Industrial jobs, pay, on average, $83.000 a year.”

The benefit of PMDs, Snyder said, is they provide a buffer between residential and industrial areas, which not only keeps industry away from homes, but helps manufacturers stay in business.

“Industrial zoning sends a signal to the companies that they can stay there for a long term,” Snyder said. “You don’t want them deal with rapidly increasing property values because developers decided it would make a good residential area, it will help keep the property taxes low encourage to retain those businesses.”

Steve Green, president of the Galewood Neighbors community organization, said that, for the most part, the existing businesses within the corridor haven’t been disruptive to the residents.

“I think, overall, people appreciate that the [corridor] is there,” he said. “When it does work and businesses run quietly, it helps the community.”

The July 18 meeting was held at the International Sports complex in North Austin. Attendees were invited to share what they wanted to see in the corridor. The sticky notes left on the display boards suggested broad interest in maintaining industrial uses, with emphasis on light manufacturing. But they also flagged train noise, poor condition of many sidewalks and vacant industrial buildings as issues.

Sarita Harris, who lives near International Sports, said that she was hopeful about the potential redevelopment of the Mars site. She said that she would like to see someone make use of the former Beardsley & Piper foundry building a few blocks west, at 5501 W. Grand Ave.

“It would be great if it returned to some kind of industrial use, manufacturing, get people working,” Harris said.

Tom Drebenstedt, of Galewood, volunteered for several organizations, including an advisory business committee for local Ald. Chris Taliaferro, 29th Ward. He said that he was skeptical about the corridor’s future as the industrial hub.

“The problem is, we have so many underutilized buildings,” Drebenstedt said. “Our world has changed. We need to reimagine all this stuff. [I would like to see] housing, maybe some water management along the train tracks.”

Wyatt said that the plan is being developed by a group of stakeholders that include representatives of several city departments, as well as Metra and CTA. He said that the long-term future would ultimately depend on what the community wants.

“We want to preserve this area as a job center,” Wyatt said. “We want to learn what the issues are, so we can address those issues.”

Snyder said manufacturing businesses do face challenges — they struggle to fill jobs, and many factory owners who are looking to retire don’t have someone to inherit the business lined up. He believes that a plan could make the corridor better for everyone, so long as everyone, including area businesses and employees, get to weigh in.

“If the point is to improve the corridor and strengthen it, and see where the needs may be, and see where they would be able to [improve], it would be a very positive thing,” Snyder said. “This is a very different administration, and DPD has a very different commissioner now. So, we’ll see, but I hope it will be better than it was with our corridor.”

For more information about the study, visit https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/armitage-industrial-corridor-planning/home.html