Featured Projects

The River Forest Green Alleys represent a multi-year, multi-project initiative to transform 85% of River Forest’s alleyways into credit-generating green alleys using permeable pavement.

Like many older suburbs in Cook County, the Village of River Forest uses a combined-sewer system to collect and convey waste water and stormwater through a series of underground pipes to MWRD, the region's sewer authority. When the Village experiences heavy rain storms, many residents experience the unpleasant downsides of a combined sewer: backup in basements, flooding in streets, or soggy yards and parks. For River Forest, green alleys are a logical tool to address these issues because they deliver multiple benefits—not only helping to alleviate local flooding but also upgrading and improving the alleyways that serve the community.

The first four-block segment of green alleys constructed in River Forest nearly a decade ago was funded in part by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (IEPA) Illinois Green Infrastructure Grant (IGIG) program. River Forest’s Green Alleys currently represent eight distinct alley segments, with plans to complete fourteen additional green alleys in 2022-2023.

Currently, two projects have available credits: The 2018 project and the 2021 project. Credits are currently being held by the Village of River Forest for use within two Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts. Only developers planning projects in these TIF districts should inquire about these credits.

The Franklin Park Stormwater Basin, part of Reuters Subdivision Improvements Phase 3 & 4, was StormStore's first credit-generating project, showcasing how it attracts development while increasing land value and improving the environment.

Before conversion to a stormwater detention pond, this site was previously an underutilized municipal parking lot and storage facility. In converting this property to a detention pond, the Village has helped alleviate local flooding, while improving the quality of its water. As this detention pond is vegetated, it also provides some new green space, thus reducing the local urban heat island effect.

The Village planned this detention pond as part of their improvements to the Reuter Subdivision, a residential community that was previously experiencing flooding issues. To alleviate these issues, the Village installed separated stormwater and sewer systems. The detention pond serves as a basin for detaining the runoff captured via the separated stormwater system from 110 homes and adjacent streets in the subdivision.

Franklin Park Mayor Barrett Pedersen has expressed he wants the Village of Franklin Park to “turn stormwater into an asset by selling retention credits from our detention basins to developers who need them to develop large new building projects. This revenue would then be reinvested in more green infrastructure projects that would benefit our community.” The Village has earmarked the revenue from the sale of these stormwater credits to fund future green infrastructure projects. This ordinance will further the Village’s commitment to improve and green its environment while safeguarding its residents against flooding.

The Village is hoping to sell these credits to a private development within Franklin Park. The Village is also hoping to sell these credits to a development with site restrictions, or one facing hardships meeting the Watershed Management Ordinance requirements. Currently, The Franklin Park Stormwater Basin is the only StormStore site providing credits to meet detention volume needs.

The Village of Niles took a creative approach to solve flooding issues in the vulnerable area near Golf Mill Park on the Northwest side. They built a massive stormwater detention basin adjacent to the park that effectively reduces flooding events while increasing the public space of the park to almost ten acres.

The Village also saw an opportunity to enhance the community space by adding features to Church Street, which conveniently borders the park and is used to host festivals and events. They used specialty concrete pavers instead of asphalt, making the space more functional and appealing to pedestrians while reducing the negative effects of asphalt. This decision also made it a competitive option for generating stormwater credits while complementing the stormwater detention basins. The Village's transformation of this area presents two opportunities. They can sell the available credits to a developer to offset the incremental construction cost on Church Street or use them as part of an incentive package to attract regional investment in redevelopment.

The Village is hoping to sell these credits to developers in the Lower Des Plaines Watershed or offer credits as part of an incentive package to attract regional investment in redevelopment in Niles.