City Planning

Illinois Chapter Leads Tornado Recovery Plan Charrette

Preparing and Economic Development Strategy in Ten Easy Steps

Smart Growth - It's More than Ag Preservation and Stopping Urban Sprawl

2011-01-04T05:40:00.000-06:00

http://cityplanningnews.com/

2010-07-25T12:33:00.000-05:00

Easier to Find and Read copies of these articles can be found at

http://planningarticles.blogspot.com/

craigullinger@gmail.com

309-634 5557

http://craighullinger.com/

2010-07-25T11:00:00.000-05:00

ADMINISTERING THE ZONING ORDINANCE

DO YOU PROVIDE GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE?

Charles Eckenstahler AICP and Craig Hullinger AICP

INTRODUCTION

Many planning and zoning practitioners have found that good zoning enforcement starts with helping applicants understand the goals of the community, ordinance provisions, and application procedures. Surveys indicate that almost ninety percent of residents recognize that the use of land and building construction is governed by local ordinances. These surveys show that less than twenty percent of residents ever read or process an action before the plan commission or zone board of appeals.

It is easy to realize that most applicants have limited knowledge of the ordinance and procedures for requesting consideration of a zoning ordinance amendment or the approval of a variance, special use or any other decision rendered by the plan commission or zone board of appeals. How a community administers the ordinance, including assisting an applicant to complete the application and prepare for any presentations, is viewed as an important duty of the zoning and/or planning staff.

SURVEYING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Bill Ernat, Community Development Director for the Village of Homewood, was interested in determining the level of satisfaction applicants felt for action before the Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals over the past two years. “We recently completed an update to our Comprehensive Plan and are scheduled to begin an update of our zoning ordinance. We wanted to assess how well our application and staff procedures work so we could make changes if necessary.”

A nine question survey was prepared and sent to over 70 individuals who sought zoning action. Twenty-nine were returned for a 40.3 percent response rate.

The survey was designed to collect several specific items of information, including the type of action requested by the applicant, how complex was the application process, appropriateness of comments from the Plan Commission (or ZBA), and their satisfaction rating of the overall process.

MAJOR FINDINGS

1. Almost 65 percent of the applicants sought approval for a zoning variance or special use permit, with over 24 percent to locate an accessory structure on their property.

2. Over 75 percent of the applicants stated they had little or no difficulty in completing the application paperwork.

3. Almost 90 percent stated staff was helpful and assisted in gathering information for the application.

4. Over 96 percent stated the paperwork reasonable and, in their opinion, satisfactory for the process.

5. Over 72 percent stated they were very prepared, with help from staff, for the oral presentation.

6. That 63 percent said they understood all of the procedures and another 33 percent most of the procedures.

7. While 46 percent noted that some questions and comments made during the oral presentation were inappropriate, 54 percent noted that question and comments were appropriate.

8. That 96 percent indicated satisfaction with the application and process procedures.

WHAT THE SURVEY SHOWS

Overall, the Village earned a satisfaction rating of 3.3 on a rating scale of 1 to 4; with four being an excellent rating. In comparison to other communities, this is significantly better than similar communities surveyed by the authors.

The results indicate that staff consults with the applicant, educates them and helps them through the process. The applicant most often receives a positive response to their request, in part due to staff providing guidance and advice concerning what is allowable under the terms of the ordinance, desired by Village policy, and what has been approved in the past. This administrative assistance reduces the number of applications for variances and/or special uses. This guidance leads to a higher approval rate and ultimately greater customer satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

Mayor Richard Hofeld was especially interested in the last survey question. Over 80 percent indicated support for the statement that “Strict Zoning Ordinance provisions and careful administration by the Plan Commission, Zone Board of Appeals, and Village Board of Trustees has contributed to the high quality development for which the Village of Homewood is noted.”

According to Hofeld, “We are delighted with the results of the survey. Customer service ans satisfaction is just as important in the public sector as in the private. The Trustees and I are pleased that Village staff does a good job helping applicants through the process. We intend to used the results of the survey to improve our ordinance and the approval process as we complete the zoning ordinance update.”

About the Authors

PREPARING AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

TEN EASY STEPS

Chuck Eckenstahler and Craig Hullinger

3/6/2009

Introduction

Every local governmental official is now challenged with the need to promote jobs and new investment in their community. The question asked is “How does our community accomplish this task?”

This question is often answered by chamber of commerce members, government employed professional economic developers, and/or an assembled group of academics. These individuals usually work with a large group of interested individuals offering their opinions of what programs and activities should be undertaken by businesses and government to stimulate the local economy.

The recommendations might include an improved effort to retain existing businesses or an effort to attract new businesses. Tasks could also include developing a business park or improving education to provide more skilled employees. It may also include efforts to improve our neighborhoods and downtown business districts to attract young well-educated adults who wish to live and work in an attractive and exciting community.

The responses differ, typically having as many variations as there are people discussing what should be done. To the lay person preparing the community economic development strategy can be an overwhelming and complex task; being something “best left to the professionals.”

The truth is that strategic economic development planning is rather simple. It is not rocket science. This article seeks to demystify preparation of an economic development strategy, simplifying the process into ten easy tasks. By answering simple, easily understood questions, a group of people can prepare a strategic plan organizing an economic development program for their community.

Question 1 - Who are we?

A simple question! Yes, we know we are a community of, for example, 5,000 people. That’s correct, but what do we know about ourselves? How many people do we have in the workforce and what are their ages? What jobs do they do and how much and what type of education do they have? How many are unemployed or underemployed? How many kids are in school, when will they graduate, how many will go on to college and how many will obtain other advanced technical training?

Many of these questions can be answered by data obtained primarily from the US Census. This information can provide a narrative and quantified description of who we are and who makes up the workforce. It can also identity their education and job skills. According to business site locators, available workforce is one of the top criteria of any firm seeking to expand or locate a new business operation.

Question 2 - What is our economy?

It is usually simple to identify the major employers. This typically includes school district and hospital. The city or county government and a few major businesses are also major employers. They account for a substantial number of jobs located in the community. However, there is a large segment (some estimate 80%) of jobs that are provided by smaller business that often times are overlooked in this simple tabulation and small businesses are the primary generator of new jobs.

Data from the US Census, US Department of Commerce and state employment agency can be useful in providing a narrative and quantified description of the number and type of jobs in the community. This data allows examination of the number of jobs and wage scale of the current jobs in the community. It can also help identify the growth (or decline) of these jobs over time, which is important to know to determine what specific jobs the community currently has and what types of jobs that the community would like to attract.

Question 3 - What are our problems and opportunities?

This is a more difficult question answered by a detached unemotional critical evaluation of “community competitiveness”.

One way to answer this question is to complete what researchers call a “SWOT” analysis. To complete a SWOT analysis, the community lists its economic Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

The completed list provides information identifying unique opportunities for existing business expansion and opportunities for recruiting new businesses. It also identifies weaknesses and future threats which may discourage business expansion and new business location, which may be remedied by specific community action.

For example, the SWOT analysis might disclose that the workforce has a concentration of skilled computer operated machine tool makers. This workforce can be offered to prospective businesses needing such workers. It may also disclose that the farmland designated for industrial development has no water and sewer and is not “shovel ready” for a business to immediately begin construction.

Question 4 - What are our strengths?

Like a well trained prize fighter, who patiently waits to use his “best punch” to win the fight, an economic development strategy must identify the community’s economic development “best punch”. Completing the SWOT analysis helps identify unique economic strengths that can define the “economic development knock-out punch” for use in the fight to create new employment opportunities in the competitive global environment.

Identifying the “knock out punch” is sometimes easy. It might be a unique geographic location affording superior logistic transportation amenities. Or it might be proximity to a nationally rated university. Or perhaps it might be a young highly educated available workforce. It could be an attractive recreational or small town residential lifestyle that the community offers to new residents. Regardless of the type of strengths identified, analysis of community strengths is necessary to select those specific opportunities that can be used to create new jobs within the community.

Question 5 - What do we want to be - our future vision?

Of the ten questions, this question is the most difficult to answer - what do we want to be?

This question is most often answered by a carefully worded vision statement, prepared by the consensus of interests that places into words a mental image of what the desired future should be. The phrase “Our Future Vision is that our community will be the premier regional location for business investment in 2015” is an example of a vision statement.

This statement tells a big story. It proposes that the community will be the premier location for new business investment when compared surrounding areas. It also provides a means to measure comparative success by measuring economic indicators such as 1) increased jobs, 2) an increase in number of businesses and 3) and an increase in business tax base within the community. It also gives a time period to measure success.

Question 6 - How do we get there?

With an understanding of our strengths, weaknesses and opportunities plus a vision of what the community wants to be in the future, answering this question may become clear. The answers become a list of specific actions that must be completed to either eliminate defined weaknesses, or maximize identified strengths to capitalize on identified opportunities.

For example, the lack of “shovel ready” sites can be remedied by investment in utilities, roads, and governmental approvals necessary to have the site ready for construction immediately upon receipt of a building permit. Another action may be a Tax Increment Financing District or a Business Development District or a Special Service Area to provide incentives for business investment. Other actions may include completion of community appearance projects, securing worker skill training programs for laid-off workers, or conducting a national marketing program to recruit new businesses to locate in the community.

Question 7 - What resources do we have and need?

Every community has resources, typically scattered among a large number of separate organizations. Key to answering this question is identifying these resources and involving them in developing the economic development strategic plan with agreements to “take-on” and fund specific work tasks.

A chart can be prepared listing the specific work task identifying the person or organization that is responsible for the task, when the work is to be completed and how it will be funded. Preparing this chart early in the strategic planning process also identifies work tasks that do not yet have a sponsor or funding.

In our example, a work task to install infrastructure for a “shovel ready site” may be assigned to the city public works department. Obtaining necessary planning and zoning approvals would be a task for the city Planning Department. The City Council could be assigned responsibility to begin city council sponsorship of a TIF district for a future business using tool making machinery equipment. The Community College could be asked to sponsor a workforce retaining effort with the chamber of commerce assigned the task of developing and implementing a marketing program.

The chart may also identify the need to involve other organizations or recommend formation of new entities to carry out specific works tasks. We might need a downtown development organization to sponsor a downtown redevelopment plan or a neighborhood redevelopment organization to sponsor redevelopment programs.

Question 8 - Who is responsible?

The key to successful implementation requires gaining commitments from specific individuals to complete work tasks. This “buy-in” of responsibility is critical to success.

In our model economic development strategy, the Mayor, Public Works Director, City Planner, Economic Development Director, President of the Community College and Chamber of Commerce Director would be named as “responsible parties” and charged with the duty to complete one or more specific work tasks.

Question 9 - How much does it cost?

Undertaking an economic development program costs money, typically more that any single organization has within their budget. Answering this question establishes a budget for each work task and identifies who is to provide the funding for the task.

Question 10 - How do we know when we get there?

In every successful economic development program the progress towards completion of each work task is periodically reported. It gives the opportunity to celebrate success and to modify the tasks if necessary to assure successful accomplishment.

Measurement tools to gage progress are critical. Useful milestones to measure success should be included as part of the Strategic Plan.

Some strategies break the process down into a number of separate categories, such as logistics, health care, energy, agri-business, retail, etc. Other approaches include a much quicker and simpler process, with the development of a on page strategy. This approach can sometimes be used as an interim until a full blown strategy can be developed.

On Line Examples

The following web pages show examples of recent Economic Development Strategies. Each effort is somewhat different, but most of them follow most of the ten items.

One Page http://peoriastrategy.blogspot.com/

Neighborhood http://www.renaissanceparkpeoria.com/

Regional http://www.edc.centralillinois.org/content/about-edc-central-illinois

Conclusion

Preparation of an economic development strategic plan is not an overly complex process and can be accomplished by answering ten questions to define a Vision for an economically improved community. Specific answers lead to identification of weaknesses that need to be remedied. The process also identifies strengths and specific opportunities with can serve as the base for a job expansion and business investment program. It provides a mechanism to identify specific work tasks, determine their cost and assign responsibility for their completion and means to measure incremental progress.

There are numerous resources to help communities prepare economic development strategies, including regional planning organizations and private consultants. While use of outside assistance brings technical skills and greater experience to the process, community representatives are still required to answer all ten questions, develop the vision and work tasks, and accept responsibilities to complete each work task.

About the authors -

Chuck Eckenstahler is 35 year veteran of municipal planning, economic development and real estate consultant serving clients in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, and a past contributor to the Illinois Municipal Review. He teaches economic development subjects in the Graduate School of Business at Purdue North Central, Westville, Indiana and serves on the faculty of the Lowell Stahl Center for Commercial Real Estate Studies at Lewis University, Oakbrook Illinois. He can be contacted at pctecken@comcast.net or by phone at 219-861-2077.

Craig Hullinger AICP has 35 years of experience in economic development, city planning, and transportation planning. He is a Economic Development and City Planning Consultant. He was the Economic Development Director of the City of Peoria, Illinois, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and Lamda Alpha. He was formerly Planning Director of Will County. He publishes a number of blogs on Peoria economic development which can be found at http://peoriaed.blogspot.com/ . He can be contacted at craigullinger@gmail.com or by phone at 309-634 5557.

http://craighullinger.com/

___________________

Economic Development Strategy Questions

1. Who are we?

2. What makes up our economy?

3. What are our problems and opportunities?

4. What are our strengths?

5. What do we want to be - our future vision?

6. How do we get there?

7. What resources do we have and need?

8. Who is responsible?

9. How much does it cost?

10. How do we know when we get there?

EXAMPLE STRATEGIC PLAN WORK TASK CHART

Easy to Print Link Below:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgp5tpcd_118pjfvkng6&btr=EmailImport

SMART GROWTH IT'S MORE THAN AG PRESERVATION AND STOPPING URBAN SPRAWL

CRAIG HULLINGER AICP, CHUCK ECKENSTAHLER AICP and BETH RUYLE

Introduction

Smart Growth is the latest buzz word in the planning media. During 1999, there were over 100 various ballot initiatives concerning urban sprawl, growth management, open space and smart growth placed before the voters across the United States. Even candidates for the presidency of the United States discuss the concept of offering different federal funding strategies to assist states and local governments to reduce sprawl.

In Illinois local officials are reviewing their plans to incorporate smart growth land use goals in response to national and statewide attention toward smarter land use planning. Nevertheless, what is smart growth? How will governments determine if their local plans are smart growth oriented? Do we need to make changes so that our plans are smart growth oriented and ,if, so what changes do we need? The intent of this article is to answer these questions.

Smart growth means different things to different people. Some proponents think that any infrastructure improvements, such as new road, especially interstates, in suburban areas promote sprawl, or in their minds "unsmart growth." They believe that we should target federal and state resources to rebuild older central cities, whether or not these cities lack vitality. Obviously, this approach also has opposition.

Some developers feel that smart growth means higher density development on smaller lots, which may provide for greater profits. Others feel that governments should purchase land to save it from development pressures. It becomes open space or could even continue to be farmed. Not since the environmental movement of the 1970's have we seen such a public emphasis on land use and land regulation.

The $10 billion Clinton Administration "Livability Agenda" which calls for the control of urban sprawl through preservation of open space and protection of water supply is only the beginning. The current attention to the issue of urban sprawl and wise management of our resources could result in new legislation and state policies addressing future new development. The concern for preservation of open space and protection of our resources has resulted in new resources and may initiate new legislation and state policies concerning land use controls. Background and a

Definition Smart growth has grown from the anti sprawl development movement. In part, smart growth seeks to prevent leapfrog developments that are not contiguous to existing communities. A primary goal of smart growth is to save our most valuable natural resources and direct new development to areas where infrastructure is already in place, thus saving the expense of building new infrastructure and converting undeveloped land for urban uses.

The State of Maryland has enacted a "Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation" initiative, which they intended "to reverse the inefficient and often costly pattern of development that has been the standard in this country for the past half century."

According to the Maryland model, smart growth has three straightforward goals:

To save our most valuable remaining natural resources before they are forever lost;

To support existing communities and neighborhoods by targeting state resources to support development in areas where the infrastructure is already in place (or is planned) to support it; and

To save taxpayers millions of dollars in the unnecessary cost of building the infrastructure required to support sprawl.

Many supporters of smart growth in Illinois identify with the Maryland goals. These goals support logically planned infrastructure and development. Who's Doing What? In Illinois, the smart growth movement is expanding rapidly. Besides supporters of wise infrastructure development, the movement has grown to encompass many diverse groups including open space preservationists, transportation planners, pro growth advocates, economic developers who seek the location of jobs closer to home and citizens seeking additional and higher levels of government services. Each group brings a specific agenda and view concerning the pattern of future land use. In Northern Illinois, a quick inventory of interested groups would include the Metropolitan Chicago Mayors Caucus, the Northern Illinois Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Planning Council, Openlands Project and the State among others.

County and multi-jurisdictional planning bodies will also become involved with smart growth initiatives as needs to plan for both redevelopment within existing communities and for expansion of the urban areas beyond local governmental jurisdictions become necessary. Various research studies and, more recently, policies and recommendations for better land use management have been published by many of these groups. These studies are designed to provide information and simulate local officials to action, recognizing, in Illinois, land use planning and development regulations are administered by local government.

As the collective mayoral voice of municipalities in the Chicago region, the Metropolitan Chicago Mayors Caucus established the following vision and principles related to smart growth: Vision The Chicago metropolitan region will be a place where all residents enjoy a high quality of life characterized by access to jobs, economic opportunity, quality housing, educational opportunity, an effective transportation system, and a safe environment.

The mayors adopted the following principles to support their vision:

1. Regional growth and development policies, programs, and projects should respect local decision making authority.

2. Policies to guide the region's growth and development should be developed by the region.

3. Regional growth and development initiatives should promote balanced economic development throughout the Region.

4. Initiatives to promote the region's growth and development should employ positive incentives, not mandates or penalties.

5. Regional growth and development initiatives should respect personal and economic choice and the diversity of the Region's communities. The most recent Smart Growth Vision was released by the Metropolitan Planning Council in December. "Building Stronger Communities" represents a year long effort to build consensus concerning smart growth for the greater Chicago region and the whole state.

The study identified five goals which embody smart growth;

1. Protect open space,

2. Coordinate transportation with development,

3. Improve water quality,

4. Expand housing for workers, and

5. Coordinate and expand state support to local communities.

Smart Growth Graduates to Sensible or Sustainable Growth Almost daily the local newspaper contains a report about future land development, whether it be titled smart growth, sustainable growth, sensible development or anti sprawl development. Usually the media summarize a state or local effort to achieve one or more of the goals stated above. In Illinois Governor Ryan and the Illinois General Assembly have established the Illinois Growth Task Force to study smart growth and establish state policy and investment guidelines.

Many local governments are reviewing their plans and testing whether their current plans fulfill smart growth standards and provide for sensible and sustainable future development. One such group is the Eastern Will County Regional Council, an intergovernmental agency created for joint planning by the local governments in that area. According to Ken Kramer, Chair of the Council and a Park Forest Trustee, "Eastern Will County is truly a microcosm of the State. In terms of smart growth, we represent older cities as well as fast growing rural communities. We need to improve existing roads. We need new roads built as well as better public transit to job centers.

In the future we will be one of the fastest growing Illinois county and we must consider our need to house this expanding workforce." "The goal of the Smart Growth Strategy for Eastern Will County will be to draw together our local governments to assure we have a land use plan which conserves resources and supports our ability to grow in the future. We also need to increase the number of jobs in our area, to reduce long commute times for our workers." Kramer believes the Eastern Will County Regional Council is a proper vehicle for the study of smart growth since the council represents a group of communities which, while independent, must base their future planning on several common growth and development issues including transportation improvements and location of new employment opportunities.

"Ultimately, the character of Eastern Will County will be shaped by the individual decisions made by each local government. Collective future planning will provide a chance to address quality of life issues, reduction of traffic congestion, increasing available jobs and reducing impact to our schools rather than reacting to new as it happens." Testing The Local Plan For Smart Growth Consistency Local officials should determine whether their community plan is a Smart Growth Plan.

Below is a series of questions which can be used to test as to whether the plan could be considered a Smart Growth Plan.

1. Does the plan provide for increased land for new development adjoining the current developed area?

2. Does the plan call for developing vacant land within the existing pattern of development?

3. Does the plan promote the building or improving of new roads which will expand the pattern of development to vacant or existing agricultural land areas?

4. Does the plan specify land which should be preserved from development?

5. Does the plan require the installation of additional water and sewer lines, using state grants or loans, while current capacity remains unused?

6. Does the plan seek to decrease the average single family home lot size?

7. Does the plan consider more pedestrian pathways within the community including shopping/entertainment areas, schools, government buildings, etc. and have you considered road width and sidewalk requirements in new subdivisions.

8. Does the plan promote coordination of the pattern of land use with abutting neighbors?

9. Does the plan explore mass transportation for workers to reach their places of employment?

10. Does the plan include housing for families employed in jobs located in the community?

Fortunately, there is no correct answer nor wrong answer to these test questions. These questions form the basis for discussion and determination, by local officials, whether their plan meets their definition of smart growth. What to Do with this Information Citizens and the media will call upon individual communities in the next several years to test whether their community plans fulfill requirements for smart growth.

It is possible that coordination with surrounding comminutes will be necessary. It is also possible that coordination with county, regional and state agencies will be required to assure that investment in roads and other infrastructure correspond with state and local established smart growth policies. The long established land use planning rules are beginning to change with increasing demand on local governments to limit urban sprawl, to provide for more open space, to preserve agricultural land, and to lessen the dependance on the auto as the principal means of transportation. A review of the local plan today may identify changes necessary to reach conformance with forthcoming statewide smart growth policies. Careful attention should be given to Illinois Growth Task Force deliberations as the outcomes of the task force may indicate new statewide goals and possibly legislative initiatives which will shape the role of local government planning in the future.

2005-09-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: If and when the city of New Orleans is rebuilt, build housing for the general public so that it is able to withstand hurricanes that may occur in the future. As they obviously will. A suggestion would be to consider tract housing of concrete homes. Concrete everything. Floor, walls, ceiling. Roofs can be made from traditional wooden gabling and planking with normal shingles. That part of the home can be easily replaced. This type of housing can be made mass produced and at a cheap cost if tens of thousands are made. Have the best architects in the country create all sorts of designs that will work well for low income housing. Build to modern standards and do it well from the start.

coolbert.

2005-09-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert. It is almost exactly 100 years now since a disaster of such magnitude has hit a major American city as has befallen New Orleans.

The last time was in 1906, the great San Francisco earthquake.

And before that, the great Chicago fire of 1872 leveled that city. At the time Chicago's populace was about 300,000 persons.

The city of Chicago WAS rebuilt.

The rebuilding of Chicago is considered to be a great windfall for the ENTIRE world. With the city wiped clean, skyscrapers were built, the first ever, on a mass basis. This was almost providential. Without Chicago having been destroyed, a whole new structural engineering concept could not have tried on such a scale. A whole slew of world-famous architects came out of Chicago of that period. Revolutionized the whole nature of the city as we know it now.

Such devastation allows for rebuilding on a massive scale incorporating NEW concepts, designs, ideas. What could only be done on a hit and miss basis and small development can now be done of "Biblical" proportions.

Will this happen with New Orleans?? Time will only tell.

coolbert.

2005-09-04T15:14:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: See my blog, click here, dated 2 September 2005 for an entry that details the situation in NO. How Homeland Security can determine a whole lot of "lessons learned" from this disaster.

coolbert.

2005-09-04T14:59:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: If and when NO is rebuilt, someone is going to suggest to build the levees [dikes] that protect the city to be build higher than before. Much higher than before. And to provide pumps of greater number and greater capacity to pump water if a flood DOES occur again.

A problem with building dikes higher and higher. Perhaps some expert that reads this can address the problem from an engineering standpoint.

If you build a dike say 20 % higher, you just cannot build the base of the dike 20 % higher and say that is enough. If the dike is build 33 % higher, you must also widen the base, but you must widen the base to say 50 % or greater to have sound construction of the dike and have it hold. More and more land is required at the base to construct a dike that is structurally sound.

And if the dikes for the Mississippi are heightened also, this causes a further problem downstream. That greater weight of water contained by the heightened dike only causes the river to run faster with a greater quantity of water of water being pushed along. Erosion and flooding downstream are exacerbated many times worse.

Keep in mind too that the Mississippi river WANTS to change it's course. This change of course is a naturally occurring process for the Mississippi. Such a change occurs about once every thousand years or so. The Mississippi wants to change it's course NOW, but is being held back by a dam. This dam is in such peril that the depth of the water at the base of the dam has to be checked five times DAILY to see if the river is cutting a course UNDER the dam!!! If the Mississippi changes course, NO will be left high and dry!! Except for fetid swamps surrounding NO, the place will no longer have the river!!

coolbert.

2005-09-04T14:54:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: If the authorities rebuild NO, let them do this also. Plan to have a more diverse population. DO NOT allow the city of NO to become about 90 % black as it was prior to the flood. The income of those folks was WAY BELOW the national average. It is said that the average wage earner in NO made about $12,000 per year!!??

It is absurd to think that these folks will be able to recreate a thriving community. You will just go back to where it was before. This you do not want.

I am sure that there are all sorts of ways that racial diversity that would "mirror" American can be had. It takes will and an ability to push through what needs to be pushed through. Legality may have to swept aside in some manner. This too can be done.

coolbert.

2005-09-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: Most, if not all of those homes in NO that have been flooded are probably going to be unsafe to inhabit again without risk. NOT ONLY damage to the wooden structure of what appears to me to mostly "shacks" [a lot of folks might take umbrage at the use of the word "shack", but please, that does what they appear to be to me!!]. And in addition, soaking, prolonged, from water that is severely contaminated does not help the situation either.

It will probably not be worth while to just rehab or patch up those homes. Most will probably have to be bulldozed and a total rebuilding process begun.

I think that there is a law that says in case of flooding, if the cost to rehab the home is greater than 50 % of the evaluation of the home itself, rehab cannot be done. The home must be torn down and it IS LEGALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO REBUILD SUCH A PREVIOUSLY FLOODED STRUCTURE. There is sound reasoning behind this. But will in all likelihood raise a lot of hackles in a lot of quarters.

If total demolition and rebuilding is done, let it be done right. Build new homes to MODERN standards. This will not be cheap. Rebuild in a sound manner and take you time and think the process through, if it is done!

And if rebuilding is done, I see a big problem with the many indigent and poverty stricken folks of NO to ever pay for those new homes. In all likelihood, they HAD NO home owners insurance to begin with. And the value of the old homes probably did not even come close to what a new home would cost. Many of those refugees will probably NOT be able to ever live in NO again.

If I had my druthers, and I do not, I would NOT rebuild New Orleans where it currently is. Would rebuild in a better location. They are showing the city mostly on the north side of the Mississippi river. North of the river is almost all below sea level. South of the river it is not much better, from what the maps show. And all around where the city is seems to be swampland.

Come on now!! Please, use some thought when thinking reconstruction!!

coolbert.

2005-09-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: New Orleans!!! What can one say at this point??

Well, here is my first impression about rebuilding.

DON'T REBUILD A CITY THAT IS TEN FEET UNDER SEA LEVEL AND HAS WATER ON THREE SIDES TO BEGIN WITH!!

Don't rebuild in the same spot. Where else to rebuild?? I dunno!! But NOT ON THE SAME SPOT. Or if you do rebuild, do not have the same population living there. That city could get hit again and you would have the same problem all over again. That is just not acceptable.

Since the tax dollars of ALL the citizens are going have to pay for rebuilding in some fashion, ALL the tax payers should get a say in the matter of rebuilding.

More later.

coolbert.

2004-12-04T13:46:00.000-06:00

2004-11-17T20:36:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: I have perhaps seen some of these Wright designed or at least inspired homes. Along perhaps it is the east side of Main street in Lombard, just south of Roosevelt road, is a group of odd looking homes. Flat roofed, oddly shaped homes from what most people are used to. I bet these were all built originally in the 1950's. Small by today's standards. Those flat roofed homes were a trademark of Wright's. And they have a bad reputation for leaking. Perhaps with modern materials and techniques this problem can be abated?

More sites for Wright tract housing for "everyman":

click here.

click here.

The last site is a blog site about PostUsonian homes!!?? So maybe the trend for such housing is still with us, albeit in an adapted form??

"The Usonian home did not have a basement. Instead, it was built on a concrete slab with subfloor heating to supplement the central fireplace. Dwellers in Usonian homes typically wore sweaters in the winter; in the summer they relied on shade from the long roof overhang to cool the house as there was no air conditioning.

The flat roof, although simple to build, was famous for leaks. There were no gutters or downspouts. All but one Usonian was designed as a single story dwelling."

NOT SO SURE IF I WOULD LIKE THE HEATING, THE LACK OF COOLING, AND LEAKS.

coolbert.

2004-11-17T20:19:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Did Frank Lloyd Wright ever design "tract homes"? I believe he did. Here is a web site to go to that shows one of these homes [click here]. What others he may have designed is not clear to me. I ask this question because it seems that while the great man was a prolific designer of homes for the wealthy, he did not seem to do a lot for tract housing. Of course, such a concept did not become a reality until Levittown after WW2, or so it seems to me. I live in a tract housing sub-division that until recently did have some vacant lots. These vacant lots were filled one at a time by a custom builder who erected homes on the lots that were about the same type as the original tract homes put up in the subdivision. All except for one exceptional home I have passed by many times. And always comment to myself as I do so, "this looks like a home that Frank Lloyd Wright would have designed". Except it has aluminum siding and is built with conventional tract housing material. Looks pretty good too. I wonder if anyone has ever decided to build an entire sub-division of such tract housing, based upon the concepts of the great man???

coolbert.

2004-11-11T13:30:00.000-06:00

PLANNING CHARETTE

<>The American Planning Association has published an article about the Utica Planning Charette on their Web Site. You may find the link to it at the top of this page: http://www.planning.org/features/. The article is shown below.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN
Work Tasks

Description

Funding
Source

Responsible Party

Completion
Date

Progress
Measurement
Tool

By Grace Bazylewski and Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP

The Village of North Utica, Illinois was hit by a tornado on April 20, 2004, that killed nine people and destroyed the north end of the historic village. The Village Hall, Township Hall, Ambulance Building, and 56 other homes and structures were destroyed.

The village, FEMA, and other governments and citizens produced the Utica United Recovery Plan, a document that called for the expenditure of about $20 million dollars to restore the town and to construct a number of improvements to the community. Some of the major improvements called for were the rerouting of a state highway through the downtown, the removal of the downtown from a floodplain, the enhancement of the historic Illinois and Michigan Canal, improvements to the local economy and tourism, and the reconstruction and beautification of the historic town.

The Pro Bono Committee of the American Planning Association's Illinois Chapter led a planning charrette to assist the citizens in developing the plan. The committee has helped numerous communities over the last eight years on a variety of issues and planning programs. A "charrette" is a design session held over a short time period and designed to produce quick results. Assisted by the Illinois Association of Landscape Architects, the Pro Bono Committee led a five-hour charrette on September 25, 2004.

The charrette was a success.

About 110 people attended the event that began at the fire station directly across from the area destroyed by the tornado. Mayor Fred Esmond introduced the participants, who gave a short introduction to the town, the disaster, and the recovery plan. Smaller groups were created for walking tours of the town, then those groups were broken down into 10-person teams charged with researching and expanding the recovery plan findings and recommendations.

The findings of each group were presented to the larger group at the end of the session. These findings will be incorporated into the downtown improvement plan, tourism plan, and economic development strategy currently under development by the North Central Illinois Council of Governments. Grants have been or will be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Illinois Emergency Management Agency, Economic Develoment Administration, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Charette also served as the initial public participation portion of the planning program. Work of the teams included downtown improvement plan physical improvements, facade improvement recommendations, economic development strategy, tourism development marketing work, park improvements, etc. Interesting recommendations included the proposed development of the Illini Native American Village, riverfront parks, a marina, the development of a quarry into a lake, and numerous other positive ideas and proposals for the community.

Long term success and implementation of the projects identified in the charrette depend on the local participants. Local government and individuals must now sort out proposals and decide which ones to implement. Local leaders will have to take ownership of the plan, and develop a consensus to successfully implement it.

2004-11-11T13:29:00.000-06:00

UTICA UNITED RECOVERY - FEMA 142 N. MILLS STREET
PO BOX # 188 NORTH UTICA, ILLINOIS 61373
815 667 4111 Mobile 202 431 7708 Fax 815 667 4679
www.Utica-il.gov Craighullinger@Utica-il.gov craig.hullinger@dhs.gov

UTICA PROGRESS REPORT

Thursday, November 10, 2004

HAPPY MARINE CORPS BIRTHDAY & VETERANS DAY

The Marine Corps celebrates its 229th birthday today, unhampered by progress. On a sad note, three of our Marines from my old Chicago Reserve unit were killed in Iraq this week.

GIFT

Mayer Trucking gave the Village a check for $31,000 to assist in removing debris and fallen trees, and for the planting of new trees in public spaces. Our thanks to Mayer Trucking and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for this gift.

TOWNSHIP / VILLAGE HALL SITES

The Village and Township continue to look for possible sites for the new governmental buildings. So far we have not found a workable, affordable site, but we are continuing to look. The Village Board and the Township Board met on Wednesday November 9, 2004 to continue discussions on a possible joint building effort. The Township is interested in working with the Village, and the two governments will continue to look for a workable site for a possible joint venture.

Bill Garfield has taken over the EDA oversight from Jack Arnold. Our thanks to Jack for his leadership and energy. We look forward to working with Bill.

PLANNING PROCESS

We have run into a delay with obtaining State CDBG funds for the planning effort. The COG advises us that they must conduct an environmental assessment before we can use these funds, since some construction will be in the flood plain. We are working with the State to try to break the CDBG funding into two parts so that we can proceed quickly.

The Village Board discussed the planning process. They determined that the Planning Commission should supervise the development of the planning process, with work provided by the COG. The Village will also require architectural and landscape architectural assistance from private consultants to ensure that the plan can be put to bid to construct the streetscape as soon as possible.

2004-09-27T13:25:00.000-05:00

The Planning Charette at the Village of North Utica, Illinois on Saturday September 25, 2004 was a great success. Over 100 local residents, and city planners and landscape architects attended the event. The group toured the downtown, and then broke into 8 smaller groups to focus on specific issues of interest to the village.

At the end of the session each group presented their findings and recommendations. A number of excellent concepts and proposals were made. The Village will incorporate many of these ideas into the downtown improvement plan currently underway.

Our thanks to all who attended, and to the Fire Department who hosted the event. Special thanks to the Grace Bazelewski and the Pro Bono Committee of APA, who planned and coordinated the event.

2004-09-22T16:26:00.000-05:00

City Planning

2004-09-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

UTICA DESIGN MEETING

FOCUS ON DOWNTOWN

FIRE STATION

 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2004

 8:30 AM TO 1:00 PM

Join your fellow citizens, city planners, and landscape architects in refining and improving the plan for Utica.  Projects include:

            Downtown streetscape & landscape

            Front and rear design of downtown buildings

            Improvements to the I & M Canal and bikepath

            Improvements to water quality, fountains, aerators

            Design & location for a Village and Township Hall

            Strategies to promote economic development & tourism

            Neo traditional development

            Housing redevelopment

            The location and the design of a memorial

            Park expansion near the I & M Canal

            Park plan for land along Illinois River and Rt. 178

            Plan for Illini Native American Museum & Living Farm

The work developed by the group will be included in the detailed plans to be developed by the COG, consultants, and Village Engineer.

Everyone is invited & encouraged to attend

2004-09-22T16:14:00.001-05:00

AGENDA FOR THE PLANNING MEETING SATURDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2004
at 8:30 am at the Utica, Illinois Fire Station in Beautiful Downtown North Utica, Illinois

8:30 REGISTRATION, VIEW PLANS & GRAPHICS IN FIRE STATION

9:00 INTRODUCTIONS
Mayor Esmond or Clerk Brown Welcome everyone
Grace Bazylewski Welcome, explain process

9:15 PRESENTATION OF RECOVERY PLAN
John Paige & Craig Hullinger briefly discuss plan
Grace assign people to teams

9:30 WALKING TOUR
Led by Mayor, Trustees, Plan Commissioners, Paige, Hullinger, Lindeman, Fesco, Oliphant, Brown, Heitz

10:00 BREAKOUT SESSIONS

11:30 WORKING LUNCH - any fine restaurants in beautiful downtown Utica

12:30PM RECAP OF FINDINGS - Reconvene entire group, each presents - Grace

1:00 GENERAL DISCUSSION OF WHAT NEXT - IDEAS AND CONCEPTS
Will be incorporated into next set of plans, which include Downtown Improvement Plan Facade Improvement Plan, Economic Development Strategy, Marketing Work, Codification, I & M Improvement, Park development, etc. COG Planners, Village Engineer, & Recovery Manager are there to ensure that findings are included in subsequent plans.

GENERAL RULES
TOPIC AREAS

1. Downtown Plan - for existing downtown, streetscape, facades
2. Downtown Plan for area destroyed by tornado
3. Plan for I & M Canal through town - landscape, water flow, bikepath, etc
4. Plan for expansion of downtown park to the northeast and to the south across the I & M
5. Park Concept Plan for 13 acres at north of IL River and east of Rt 178.
6. llini Native American Museum and Living Farm north of Il River and east of Rt 178
7. Tourism Marketing Plan, Historic preservation, presentation
8. Economic Development Strategy
9. Anything else for the good of the community - THE RECOVERY PLAN ACTUALLY HAS SOME 20 INTEREST AREAS TO CONSIDER

American Planning Association/American Institute of Certified Planners Charrette Rules

The day will be divided into three major sections

1. A general introduction of the community, a recap of activities taken to date, a tour and a general visioning session undertaken by the whole group to confirm and/or select breakout session topics

2. A series of small group discussions listing on indicators to measure community assets listing approaches to facilitate change listing of priorities for action conceptualization of ideas through graphics

3. A summary session for the entire group

In order for the day to go smoothly and effectively the following are the rules of engagement for the exercise:

There are no observers. This is a participation exercise. Everyone is encouraged and welcome to join in and everyone has something to contribute.

There are no right or wrong answers as we think about the future of the neighborhood and its residents.

Respect the opinions of others. Encourage others to participate.

Commit yourself to a team approach together we can find solutions and directions.

Think in terms of how to make things happen.

For the small group discussions select a topic of interest and/or expertise.

If you came with your spouse or relative or another member of your block club or the same organization
consider splitting up to different focus groups to spread your knowledge and input.

Most of all -----------have fun!!!

Three categories of participants

Local residents: these are the experts on local conditions, issues and history. They hold the knowledge of what the community has to offer, the barriers they face and the future they see for themselves. We ask the local residents to be up-front, candid and vocal about their experiences, expectations and needs in improving their community.

APA/AICP/LAS attendees: these attendees come to the charrette with expertise in a wide variety of planning practice, experience and application. They are the resources in planning methods that they have seen applied in other communities across the country. We ask the attendees to listen to the residents and draw upon their professional expertise in incremental problem-solving to seek attainable solutions to the issues being discussed.

Agency representatives: there are a number of agencies and organizations that serve the community. These are often the "tool keepers" that hold the information to programs and tools that can get things done in the neighborhood. We ask these tool keepers to participate by keeping a keen eye out for
opportunities to use their treasure chest of tools.

In the large group

Listen to the presentations.

Contribute to the general discussion.

Ask for clarification as needed. There are no dumb questions!!!

Be respectful of other's perspectives.

Try not to be repetitive but build on the discussion of others.

Once in the small groups

Introduce yourselves: include personal information - what brings you to the charrette, what you hope to achieve in participating and so on.

Residents include how long you have lived in the area, what you like or dislike about their community.

Planners identify where you come from, what do you do in your profession.

Select record keeper and spokesperson:

The record keeper's job is to accurately capture and record the major points of discussion. The record keeper needs to be a good listener and be able to quickly record what the group discusses.

The spokesperson's responsibility will be to report back to the entire group of attendees when we reconvene on the findings of the individual focus group. Local residents are encouraged to take on these roles.

Small group activities - Take some time clearly state the issue for discussion what would be the ultimate solution or outcome envisioned?

If you do not understand anything presented do ask for clarification.

Challenge your fellow participants to think outside the box.

Do not dominate the discussion. Listen listen listen!!!!

Think in terms of doable steps in recommending approaches and setting priorities.

The reporter and the spokesperson in each small group should be ready to report. If they need some help in clearly presenting the findings of your group do help them along.

2004-09-22T16:14:00.000-05:00

2004-06-01T11:50:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: Saw an interesting idea for tract housing the other day. They are called English row homes. Narrow single family homes, unattached, two story, on narrow small lots with only a few feet between adjacent homes. Two car garage unattached in back with alleyway. Each row home has a porch in front. Some fronts have porch on second level as well. Close to the street. Almost no yard work period. Designed with that in mind. Don't know what the layout is inside or what amenities are available or included. Basement? Not sure. Get more homes on the same area of land and provide single home housing at probably a cheaper cost. Smaller lots, less taxes, etc. Not a bad idea. Look cookie cutter like but not in a bad way. Each front has slight alterations so no two adjacent are alike. Affordable good housing at a price most people can bear. I need to find out more, such as interiors. Being built in Oswego? Get more and will post more later.

coolbert.

2004-05-13T06:42:00.000-05:00

Grace Bazylewski
is putting together an APA PRO BONO CHARRETTE for UTICA, IL
the town near Starved Rock, Illinois that was damaged by the
recent tornado. Shoud

THE TASK WOULD BE TO REDESIGN THE AREA OF
THE DOWNTOWN THAT HAS BEEN DESTROYED IN THE RECENT
STORMS. IT WOULD BE ON A SATURDAY IN LATE JUNE OR
JULY.

LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

DETAILS ARE STILL BEING WORKED OUT.

PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE YOU THINK WOULD BE
INTERESTED.

GRACE BAZYLEWSKI
VILLAGE OF LANSING
708 895 7174

2004-04-05T14:03:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: Convention centers. Everyone wants a convention center now. It used to be that Chicago, because of it's centralized location, was the place to go in the country for conventions. That is no longer the case. Cost of setting up and operating a convention, airplane travel, etc., have meant that other urban centers compete successfully with Chicago for convention business. And besides cost and location, Chicago cannot compete with places such as Las Vegas and Orlando from the entertainment standpoint and the climate as well. No easy fix to these problems, if there is one at all.

coolbert.

2004-04-05T11:58:00.000-05:00

This is coolbert: Land fills. These enormous "Mount Trashmore" land fills have to be built with extreme care. If they are not sculpted properly, and the top is allowed to deteriorate as the innards of the land fill decay, you can end up with a cavity existing on the top of the land fill. This cavity will fill with water which will depress the cavity even more, and result in a snowball effect that will create a situation where the entire land fill may collapse. An avalanche will occur, crushing nearby persons and buildings with garbage. The smell afterwards will be overpowering for miles around. Landfills have only a short life where garbage is placed in them, but must be maintained for decades afterwards.

coolbert.

2004-04-01T13:18:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Let me correct myself on the height of that mound that was located where Joliet is now. It was only 60' high, not 700' high. Could not have been seen from the sand dunes of Indiana. I was wrong. Sorry.

coolbert.

2004-03-29T16:12:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Minor League baseball teams seem to be on the increase in a real big way. Kane County Cougars are a typical example. Professional baseball at a cheap price in an old time way. Price of major league ball seems to preclude a lot of customers. And the level of play for minor league ball is actually at a pretty high level of proficiency. Even a major league venue such as the Chicago area has a number of minor league teams now. A very good idea. Maybe football needs such a system too. Hockey team the Wolves are very successful.

coolbert.

2004-03-29T16:00:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Bike trails. These should be built all over urban areas. In profusion if possible. I know that a lot of them already are. Can be used, and should be designed for, from the start, for both cyclists and pedestrians. And some thought should be given to this aspect of design. Overpass or underpass for all major roads. Too difficult to cross otherwise. You want to keep moving continuously. Some of these roads are very dangerous to cross. Too many speeders. Is an inhibiting factor. This of course is a major extra cost, but should be made from the start. All these paths and trails should be connected into one large super-connecting urban network, and for the future plans should be made for a national super-connecting network. I think this is being done now, but needs to be accelerated as best. This is a worthy venture.

coolbert.

2004-03-29T15:01:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: At one time, Daley the Elder proposed an island in the middle of Lake Michigan. The island was to be for an airport to supplement O'Hare and obsolete Meigs. This island, however, was to be not above the waterline, was to be below the waterline. Pilings were to be driven into the lake and the water pumped out. Large enough to create enough dry land below lake level to build an airport to rival O'Hare in size!!! This project never got anywhere. [Shiphol airport in Holland is actually below sea level, consisting of land created by pumping out water from what was once ocean bed to create dry land]. One thing to remember about the level of Lake Michigan. It is not constant. Constantly varies according to a cycle of rising and falling. Make that island high enough or you might find yourself with having an unusable man-made island in the Lake!

coolbert.

2004-03-29T14:11:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Just this weekend an article in the newspaper said that a pair of nesting eagles have been seen on the Little Calumet River. First time since 1897 that this has been observed. And a few years ago, it was reported that wild turkeys had returned to the south suburban forest preserves. First time since the 1880's that wild turkeys had been seen in the Chicago area. Wild life can co-exist with even the most urban areas. Bobcats and coyote and deer are supposed to abound in the forest preserve areas surrounding Chicago. In the case of the deer, even a nuisance. What other type of wild life can return to this area remains to be seen? A wild wolf from the UP of Michigan was captured in northwest Indiana last year. Migrated to the area in search of what? Damn, stranger things have happened. The movie "Wolfen" describes a pack of wild wolves in NYC killing off homeless people. Who knows?

coolbert.

2004-03-29T14:03:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: There used to be a mountain in the Chicago area. Where Joliet is now used to be a 700' high mound erected by prehistoric American Indians [Mound Builder culture]. This mound of tamped clay could be seen a long way off. When the first white explorers [Joliet and Marquette] came into the area, they came ashore in Lake Michigan where the Indiana sand dunes are now. Climbing to the top of the highest dune, which was about 200' high, they were able to see the mound in the distance. Rough calculations of line of sight distance would seem to indicate that this was possible. In the 1800's the mound was totally erased as the clay was used for manufacturing such items as clay pots and roofing tiles.

coolbert.

2004-03-19T16:32:00.000-06:00

This was Chapter One of the book I published in 1987. Always interesting to see how your ideas and plans hold up, how many got implemented and how many never went anywhere. I will put the whole book on this page over time.

DREAMS AND SCHEMES

PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE THE CHICAGO REGION

Copyright 1987

INTRODUCTION

The Chicago region contains many attractive and desirable communities. However, the region has suffered greatly from the recent recession. The Southern Suburbs and the industrial portions of the City of Chicago have been the most negatively impacted during this financial downturn. The purpose of this discourse is to outline some major improvements to the area which will improve the Chicago region, both for current residents and for prospective investors. Some of the projects listed here are underway, while others have not been publicly discussed.

This paper is but a small step in the process required to bring such improvements into fruition. The Southern Suburbs are highlighted in this publication. This is due to two basic reasons. First, the Southern Suburbs have received the least development in the past few years and are, therefore more readily accepting of innovative proposals and second, the area has more developable areas as opposed to other areas of the region. Likewise, the southern portion of the region is best known to the author.

I apologize to anyone whose ideas appear here without credit. I have had untold numbers of discussions with numerous individuals on different proposals. Many of the ideas that I have written about have no doubt originated elsewhere.

Some of the proposals are whimsical, some serious, and some controversial. Some of them will be constructed, while others will be added to the ever growing body of rubbish ideas. They may also prompt other better ideas for development.

RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE

Chicago is located in America's heartland. It has the physical characteristics of the flat midwest. While very productive, our landscape could do with a few man made improvements. The addition of a mountain, an island, and a river would improve the region substantially.

MOUNT SOUTH CHICAGO

The Chicago region needs a mountain. Our Lakefront is beautiful, but our topography is simply too flat and uninteresting. The following is an outline on how to develop a mountain. (All right, it would only be a hill, but it is better than no hill at all!)

A major gateway to Chicago and the southern suburbs is located where 130th Street intersects Interstate 94. The area is a major industrial complex. It includes the Calumet Harbor Port Industrial properties and an extensive land fill area just south of 130th Street. The South Shore Commuter Railroad parallels 130th st. In years past a train station served the harbor, where sailors from ships in the harbor could flag trains.

It is proposed that a major open space forest preserve be developed from the landfill area. The landfills are already among the highest topographic features in flat northeastern Illinois-and the waste disposal companies should be encouraged to build the hills as high as possible. When the landfill is complete, the property should be dedicated to the Cook County Forest Preserve District for development into toboggan slides, mini ski slopes, and a scenic overlook. The existing lock which provides access from the Cal Sag Channel into Calumet Harbor can also become part of the open space plan.

The summit of the mountain would be an appropriate location for a major piece of sculpture. It would provide an impressive entrance into the region. It would be a unifying symbol for the broad shoulder area of the Chicago region. It logically should be a major steel sculpture, in honor of the steel making industry of the region.

The train station at the junction of 130th and the Calumet Expressway should be reopened with a first class parking lot added. This could provide a dual function--access for visitors to the Mount South Chicago recreational area and parking for commuters using the South Shore Commuter Railroad. Visitors could also ride the South Shore to visit the park.

The Port Authority also needs to upgrade the appearance of their facility from the expressway. The development of quality buildings along the Interstate coupled with a landscaping treatment should serve to improve the appearance and marketability of the Port Authority property.

The landfill companies may be willing to donate the land, since old landfills are difficult and expensive to redevelop into commercially useful property. In addition, the tax savings for donations could be substantial. Also, the public relations value of the dedication would be significant. The complex could thus be developed relatively inexpensively.

This concept is not new, and in fact, a number of recreational facilities have been developed from landfill sites. Several facilities are planned or completed in the western suburbs. But none of the other projects would be of the size possible for Mount South Chicago, nor would they have the amazing view afforded by Mt. SC. This view includes Lake Michigan, Calumet Harbor, the vast industrial region, and the loop.

Mount South Chicago is a workable concept that should be implemented. Developing the site is difficult because of the multitude of governments and institutions involved. But the transition is possible, and it should be completed quickly to alleviate the impact on the long suffering neighbors of the land- fill. And there can be no question that Chicago needs a mountain.

THE RIVER

Chicago, and particularly the southern suburbs, need an improved river and recreational area. The existing Cal Sag Channel could be upgraded to be a major attraction for the area.

The Calumet Sag Channel connects Lake Michigan, Calumet Harbor, and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The property along the channel includes major industrial areas, residential districts, and forest preserves. The channel and the property adjacent to the canal is owned by the Metropolitan Sanitary District. It is currently underused despite recent efforts by the Metropolitan Sanitary District to market the property. The channel and adjacent property are typically ignored.

The channel is not very observable. Most people driving along or across the channel are not aware of its presence. The land uses along the channel vary tremendously. They include virtually every type of development.

The channel begins at Lake Michigan at 90th St.and proceeds south through a heavily industrialized area. At 125th St. the channel interconnects with Calumet Harbor. At 150th St. the channel interconnects with the Grand Calumet River. It then proceeds westward through the communities of Burnham, Calumet City, Blue Island, Crestwood, and Alsip. Next, the channel passes through the communities of Palos Hills, Palos Heights, and Palos Park, and the major western forest preserves of Cook County. The channel ends at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Lemont. It is proposed that Chicago, the Southern Suburbs, the Cook County Forest Preserve District, the Metropolitan Sanitary District, and the Calumet Harbor Port Authority begin to improve the use, appearance, and image of the channel.

The lands along the channel should be leased to the Forest Preserve District and/or local park districts to be developed into recreational areas. Where appropriate, they should be leased or sold to developers for office and industrial development. A continuous trail should be developed on both sides of the channel. Several small harbors could be developed along the channel.

The channel should be incorporated into and enhanced by the National Heritage Corridor, which is a proposal to develop the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and the Des Plaines River into an economic development and recreational area. The National Heritage Corridor will bring a major new national park into the Chicago region. A unique concept is being developed--that major industrial areas can coexist with open space and historical preservation uses and that a major national park can be developed in an urbanized region. Since the land and waterway are already owned by government, the expense to acquire and develop the corridor is relatively low.

Implementation of the beginning of development of the channel is difficult. It requires the leadership of government, planning commissions, the news media, environmental groups, industrial development groups, and concerned citizens--all with competing interests and concerns. It is proposed that the plan commissions of the communities along the Calumet Sag Channel conduct meetings to discuss the pros and cons of the development of the channel. An informal planning process should begin to bring the concept to fruition.

The upgrading of the Calumet Sag Channel from a neglected area into a fine resource for the community is a definite possibility. The governments and civic organizations of the southern suburbs and Chicago should begin work in earnest to bring a quality river corridor into reality.

ISLE CHICAGO

Our region needs an island. We have a beautiful lake and lake- front park system, but the lake is empty to the naked eye. An island would add a touch of mystery and intrigue to an otherwise conservative Midwestern Great Lake.

Islands have a permanent and honored place in literature. People have been marooned on them, imprisoned on them, and vacationed on them. A great deal of money is spent on trips to islands in the Caribbean, the British Isles, and the Greek Islands. Stories and ballads have been written about islands. It is clear that Chicago will never be a truly world class city without an island to call its own.

Now it is true that Chicago has a Blue Island and a Stoney Island and that a number of Chicagoans vacation at these attractive garden spots. But these Islands are not in Lake Michigan. We need an island in the lake.

A number of people feel that Lake Michigan should be forever free and clear and that the wide open vistas should be totally preserved without obstacles. But surely, one little island would not ruin the view! A well landscaped island will enhance the view of the lake.

The location and size of the island can be determined after research and detailed planning. The uses on the island could vary, but a mixture of recreational and commercial uses would be appropriate.

The Forest Preserve District would be the logical developer of an island in Lake Michigan. Most forest preserve land is in distant suburbs, far from the densely built city. A forest preserve island would provide needed recreational space.

A combined effort with commercial developers could result in an interesting island with limited costs to the taxpayer. The island should have limited restaurant facilities. Strict environmental controls would, of course, be necessary to prevent ecological problems. The development of the island would increase the amount of beach and shallow water area, which should promote wildlife.

The name of the Island will be difficult to select. The following are a list of some of the possibilities:

Treasure Island Captain Streeter Island
Isle Washington DuSable Isle
Blue Island Byrne Island
Stoney Island Eisenhower Isle
Daley Island Michigan Isle
The Greek Isle Cub Island
Ireland Bear Island
Atlantis Sox Island
The Chicago Isle Stockyard Island
Gold Coast Isle Streeterville Island
Sawyer Island The Chicago Isles
Isle Rue (Named after my wife)

Chicago deserves an island. Let us give her one (and my wife also) in the near future.

THE CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR - STICK IT IN THE LOOP

The proposed Chicago World's Fair was an exciting and worthwhile civic endeavor that would have enhanced the image of the Chicago region around the world. The apparent demise of the fair is unfortunate, but the fair is not over till the fat lady sings. A fair of more limited scope can still be developed.

Most of the criticism of the fair hinged upon environmental and cost considerations. The lake side site was too costly to develop and generated little urban redevelopment.

Both of these problems can be rather nicely solved by simply setting the fair IN THE LOOP! We already have a world's fair in Chicago in terms of our cultural and commercial amenities. We simply need to designate and market downtown Chicago as a world's fair and work to get international exhibitors to locate their exhibits in existing and new downtown facilities.

A typical visit to the Chicago world's fair would include a three to seven day visit to the following amenities:

Art Institute
Museum of Natural History
Planetarium
Aquarium
Museum of Science and Industry
Lincoln Park Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
world's tallest buildings
architecturally significant buildings
State Street
North Michigan Avenue
world's most interesting roller coaster (CTA Rapid Transit)
Lake Front
Pavilions from as many countries as possible

As you can see, a visitor could not even see our existing world's fair in a week's time. Even if few countries provided a pavilion, the city has existing world class world fair activities. State Street is the obvious north/south access of the fair. Many south State Street buildings are underused and could be efficiently adapted to house some fair exhibits. State Street has convenient access from all the rapid transit lines and most of the bus lines. One of the less developed east/west streets along the south edge of the loop could be another access mode/part of the fair and provide fair access from the commuter rail terminals.

The corporate leaders of Chicago can facilitate the fair by providing part of their first floors of their downtown buildings for fair exhibits. Some of our local business can move their first floor operations to other parts of their buildings or to other locations. The fair will now be inside, so we can run the fair all year long.

Other pavilion sites could be developed on empty sites near the loop or in lake front park areas. In addition, it is also feasible to locate some of the fair attractions in other parts of the region or state. It would be interesting to solicit fair site applications from all parts of the state. Foreign exhibitors could then match locations. Frankfort would have the German pavilion; Geneva the Swiss exhibit, etc. A world's fair pavilion would be an obvious showcase on which to revitalize a small city's downtown area.

To achieve the use of existing buildings in the loop as part of the fair, a "High Tech" ticket solution is necessary. The fair should probably use computerized fare collection means similar to the method used to collect fares on the ICG commuter railroad. Fair visitors would purchase their ticket to the fair anywhere in the loop and use it to access turnstyles at buildings in the loop and at the entrances to the main fair grounds.

An alternative to the ticket approach to the fair is simply to make it free. Most of our existing facilities are free or charge a nominal fee at the door. The fair pavilions could simply adopt a similar system. The return to the city would be from tourist dollars spent and in the enhanced image and reputation to the city for future years' tourism.

This approach should also reduce the need for new transit and parking improvements. The loop presently accommodates over 1,000,000 trips a day. The peak demands for present loop traffic are primarily at rush hour. The peak travel times for fair users will occur after the morning rush hour. With an education and marketing campaign, many who attend the fair can be persuaded to travel home before or after the evening rush hour. Thus, the existing rapid transit, bus, and railway services can be more effectively used by cycling peak hour equipment on increased trips during the day and evening.

This approach also has the additional benefit of eliminating the need for substantial landfill in the lake. The landfill efforts are costly and the resulting park might not be heavily used after the fair because of its distance from residential areas.

The approach outlined in this paper should achieve the following:

LOWER INITIAL COST
NO LANDFILL
INCREASED URBAN REDEVELOPMENT IMPACT
INCREASED BUSINESS IN THE LOOP
IMPROVED ACCESS FOR FAIR VISITORS AND WORKERS
ENHANCED REVITALIZATION OF STATE STREET
REDUCED NEED FOR NEW TRANSIT AND PARKING IMPROVEMENTS

This paper also advocates several other considerations for fair planners. In particular, it seems to be the height of the "throw away society" to build the enormous and attractive World's Fair, only to dismantle it a few short months after completion. The 1893 and 1933 Fairs appear from photos to have been wonderful additions to the city. It seems a shame that more of the buildings were not preserved.

The city should begin planning for a follow on effort that will maintain a portion of the attractions of the fair. Epcot Center could be something of a model for the follow on fair. The existing Field Museum, Aquarium, and Planetarium are remnants from previous fairs. New pavilions could be incorporated into a new Chicago entertainment and educational center that could be a world class attraction. A central concept is that people should be able to walk from State Street directly to the existing and future cultural and educational facilities developed by the fair.

It is suggested here that the Disney Corporation is the world's expert in educational and entertainment complexes. The city should begin negotiations with the Disney Corporation and other similar companies to determine if a viable permanent follow on educational/entertainment theme park could be planned to develop from the World's Fair. We have, after all, a Disney Land and Disney World on the two coasts of this country-why not a DISNEY CITY in America's heartland? Since the City of Chicago has had initial conversations with the Disney Corporation, the development of a permanent world's fair as part of the city would seen a natural step.

A follow on attraction would further enhance Chicago's reputation and attractiveness for tourism and trade shows, particularly if the park spurred redevelopment of the near south area between the loop and McCormick Place. If the entire area developed into a quality educational/entertainment/commercial/residential center, then the World's Fair would be a success not just for one year, but for many years to come.

The fair could take place in 1992 or later. Some future governor or mayor will make the fair happen, and will gain great credit for creating the fair.

We already have a world's fair in our city, we just don't think of it as a world's fair. By designating our city as a world's fair site, we can still have the fair. It won't be as it was envisioned a few years ago, but it could well become a prototype for future world's fairs. When you think about it, what could be more logical than having a world's fair in our downtown, instead of in a boon docks park?

THE 1992 WORLD'S FAIR IS ON!! IT WILL BE LOW COST, FINANCED LARGELY BY OUR DOWNTOWN CORPORATIONS, LARGELY IN DOWNTOWN, MOSTLY IN EXISTING STRUCTURES. LET US MAKE IT HAPPEN.

DISNEY CITY

There is a Disney Land on the west coast and a Disney World on the east coast. Why not a Disney City near the center of the country?

Disney City should be built near downtown, ideally within walking distance of the City's center and other tourist attractions. Disney City would have to be partially inside to operate during Chicago winters. It could be developed in concert with the World's Fair, should it occur.

O'Hare Airport is the world's busiest airport. It boasts a quality roller coaster connecting the airport to the rest of Chicago land. The Milwaukee line of the CTA would provide an interesting access to Disney City.

The development of a Disney City would of course be a tremendous boost to the economy of the region. It would enhance the image of the city. It would generate substantial number of jobs and tax base. It would further enhance the city as one of the best convention cities in the world. The city should make an aggressive effort to attract Disney City to the region.

THE REGIONAL TRAIL SYSTEM

Trails formed along old canals and abandoned right of ways have become an important part of the recreational systems in urban areas. These systems can form great lineal parks, creating green open areas with great access from urban areas. The logical expansion of this system is recommended. A number of these trails are delineated in the following paragraphs.

ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL

The Illinois and Michigan Canal was constructed in the early 19th century as a major part of the early development of Chicago. It connected Chicago to the Illinois River, providing access to the Mississippi River. It has largely been abandoned, but many parts of the canal and tow path are still usable.

The City of Lockport has done an excellent job in restoring portions of the canal, towpath, and surrounding buildings. The trail in Channahon has also been rebuilt and is in good condition. Their efforts set an example for the rest of the communities along the canal.

The State and several communities have been improving both the waterway and towpath. This is quality system and it should be further developed and continually upgraded.

HERITAGE CORRIDOR TRAIL SYSTEM

The Heritage Corridor is the title given to a region encompassing the I & M Canal, Chicago River, the Cal Sag Channel, and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. This great system of urban waterways was in fact our heritage in terms of transportation, commerce and industry. Many of the land uses along the canal have fallen into disuse.

The Heritage Corridor Commission has been created by Congress to oversee the development of the Heritage Corridor. It has an interesting and challenging mandate-- to create a quality national park type development in the corridor while also maintaining and improving historical and cultural aspects of thecanal. In addition, economic development of the canal is also
advocated.

The Heritage Corridor could be a great addition to the metropolitan area if it is properly funded and supported.

PLANK ROAD TRAIL

The Plank Road Trail concept was first developed in 1981 by the communities bordering the Penn Central Railroad south of Route 30. The railroad proposed abandonment and sale of its tracks. The rails were removed in 1981. The Plank Road Trail Plan proposed that the right of way for the railroad be purchased for use as a trail and open space area.

The communities of Matteson, Frankfort, Park Forest, Mokena, and New Lenox supported the concept. A variety of uses were considered, including hiking, biking and recreational uses. In more rural areas horse trails were proposed.

The State of Illinois, the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, the Will and Cook County Forest Preserve commissions, and the Open Lands Commission supported the concept, and worked to gain control of the property. The State has budgeted $250,000 for right of way condemnation.

At present, the proposal is moving slowly forward because of concern that the Penn Central may not own the land. Many of the older railroads acquired rights of way through contributions from land owners, with the stipulation that the land would revert to the original owners when or if the railroad was removed. Until the ownership issue is resolved, acquisition will be difficult.

The development of the trail would positively enhance the image of the southern suburbs. The trail would connect the historical business districts of Frankfort and Matteson to Lincoln Mall and the Matteson ICG station. Visitors to the area could take pleasant walks through these communities. The Prairie Path in Du Page County is similar to the Plank Road Trail and has served to bolster the image of its surrounding area.

LINCOLN WAY TRAIL

Old Lincoln Highway was the major east west route serving Frankfort, Rich, and New Lenox townships. Old Lincoln Highway was one of the nations early brick roads. It served as an important commercial artery connecting the east with the west. More recent reconstruction of Route 30 left portions of the Old Lincoln Highway to the side of the new road, often causing an unsightly area as the old pavement fell into disuse. The development of Interstate 80 relegated Route 30 to a secondary status. This resulted in many of the commercial structures on the roadway closing and deteriorating causing further visual blight.

By developing a pedestrian way parallel to the highway, the aesthetic appearance of the road will be improved. The safety of children traveling on the road will be increased. The area will have an additional quality feature which will enhance the quality of life and the reputation of the communities in the area.

The name of the trail is taken from a term in wide usage. Lincoln Way High School is located on the trail and is a major destination on the trail.

Important land uses that will be served by the trail include: the commercial areas of New Lenox, Frankfort, Matteson, and Park Forest and Olympia Fields; the Frankfort Library; the Frankfort Township building and swimming pool; forest preserves; Lincoln Way High School; the New Lenox Rock Island Station; Lincoln Mall; and the Park Forest ICG Station will receive direct service. Connections to downtown Mokena, Frankfort, Matteson, and the
parallel Plank Road Trail should also be provided.

The trail should eventually be developed as a lineal park, with the trail providing continuity. Landscaping and park benches should be placed where possible. The trail should be identified with appropriate signage. Commercial business should work the trail into their landscaping them.

The development of the trail can take place over a number of years. Each time Route 30 is widened or improved the trail should be constructed or improved.

Each segment of the trail could be developed individually by the town, park district, township, and forest preserve district. Each segment of the trail should serve a local function when it is constructed. The following is a township by township discussion of possible development phasing.

FRANKFORT TOWNSHIP

The recent additions of the Frankfort Library and township swimming pool on Route 30 at opposite ends of the township make the early development of the trail a necessity. The trail should be on the north side of the highway, built within the right of way, but as far from the pavement as possible. The communities of Prestwick, Frankfort Square, Lincoln Estates, and Arbury Hills should be connected to the trail. A connection to Mokena along the west side of Wolf Road would also be desirable.

The portion of Old Route 30 west of Route 45 is wide and is subject to flooding. This portion could serve a dual use for flood control. The area could be excavated into a gentle swale that would accept and retain water during major floods. During periods of non-flooding the area could be developed into an attractive landscaped lineal park. Extensive berming and the use of pine trees and evergreens along the north edge of the park would minimize noise from Route 30 to adjacent residential areas.

The area west of the intersection of Route 30 and Route 45 should be extensively landscaped similar to the entry way areas of Historical Frankfort and the Savings and Loan building at Route 45.

NEW LENOX TOWNSHIP

The first connection should be through the Village of New Lenox to Lincoln Way High School, serving the commercial center of the village and the train station. Subsequently, the trail should be extended east to meet the Frankfort Township portion. Residential neighborhoods to the north and south of Route 30 should also have connections to the trail developed.

RICH TOWNSHIP

Initial development of the trail should be to connect the commercial establishments in Matteson with residential areas and the train stations. The trail should subsequently be extended east to Olympia Fields and Park Forest, with connections to residential neighborhoods. The trail should eventually be extended west to link up with western Matteson neighborhoods and the Frankfort Township portion of the trail.

SUMMARY

The development of the Lincoln Way Trail can proceed very slowly, and can be thought of as a ten to twenty year development project. Each time a subdivision or commercial development takes place on Route 30, the frontage should be developed into a landscaped pathway. Local chambers of commerce can encourage their members to redevelop existing structures into the trail. Improvements to the trail will vary according to location. The portions in commercial areas will have more urban type cross sections-- paved, with benches and intensive landscaping. The rural cross sections can be less well developed with bark chip or compacted gravel type of improvements. The trail should be attractively landscaped, signed, and promoted.

The development of the Lincoln Way Trail will be an outstanding addition to the quality communities in the area. Coupled with ongoing quality development and the development of area forest preserves, parks, and the Plank Road Trail, Lincoln Way Trail will improve the region. In time, the communities along Lincoln Way in the Land of Lincoln will become known for their quality system of landscaped walkways.

THE CITY FARM - FOREST PRESERVE

A farm should be preserved to provide our children with knowledge and understanding of farming and rural life. The farm should be an actual working farm with additional facilities for tours and education.

The farm should be located as close as possible to the bulk of the population of the area. The farm would serve as permanent open space and as a green belt separating communities.

The farm should be owned and operated by the forest preserve district. The district operates attractive wooded recreational areas and golf courses. A farm would be an attractive addition to the forest preserve program.

THE LAKE FRONT FOREST PRESERVE

The lake front of Chicago is a regional resource, enjoyed by people throughout the region. It is the front door to our region. Unfortunately portions of the lake front are undeveloped and poorly maintained. This is due in part to the cost of improvements and maintenance.

Portions of the lake front should be shifted over to the Cook County Forest Preserve District. The county is certainly in better condition to pay for substantial improvements to the lake front, since it draws its tax base from both city and suburban areas. This would be a more equitable situation for city
residents, since the lakefront is used by both city and suburban residents.

By shifting portions of the lake front to the forest preserve, substantial improvements could be developed. This could include improved beaches, bike paths, and trails.

THE YEAR AROUND SOLAR PLAYGROUND

Chicago is the third coldest metropolitan area in the USA. During the winter, many days are simply too cold to stay outside. Chicago should follow the example of Minneapolis and Edmonton, creating enclosed walkways among downtown buildings. The city should also work with commercial enterprises and the park and forest preserve districts to develop a year around solar
playground. A huge in door park under an enormous atrium should be developed to provide summer 12 months a year.

The public sector could finance the indoor park. Major commercial recreational facilities would be located and developed within the facility. The park could become a major attraction for the region. It could be a prototype for this type of recreational facility.

The facility could contain a variety of uses. A quality swimming area with sand beaches and sunlight is obviously required. A tropical and a desert area should be provided. Private health clubs and park facilities could be attached to the facility.

RIVER MARINA

The image of the Chicago River is gradually improving due to improved water quality. A wide range of actors making concerted efforts influenced this result. These efforts must continue. The water quality of the river must continually be upgraded.

Future development should focus restaurants and activities on the river front. Pedestrian ways along the river should be improved, both inside and outside.

Marina development must be encouraged. The continued addition of boating facilities to the river will ensure the continued upgrading of the river appearance and vitality.

THE "OVER THE HILL" LEAGUE

It has long been an irony that advancing age slows performance and forces retirement. This occurs at the apex of an athlete's career, when he is the most popular and in the most demand. The professional is still a superb athlete, but eventually cannot compete with younger men.

An "Over the Hill" League composed of over "40" athletes should be developed. The charisma and popularity of the former stars should ensure the success of the league. The baby boom generation is the largest population cohort and is now beginning to turn 40 years of age. In this scenario the baby boom generation could continue to follow its present athletic heroes into middle age.

The following are a list of possible organizational principles:

- The majority of the athletes must be over forty, with one player fulfilling an over 50, an over 60, and an over 70 age slot.

- Members of the teams should come from a variety of sports, as follows:

2 Baseball
2 Basketball
2 Football
1 Hockey
1 Boxing
1 College level star
1 High School Star
1 Sports writer
1 No experience in organized athletics whatsoever
----------
12 Total, with alternatives as needed.

- One game per team on weekends only -- with the realization that the over the hill league is a part time job.

- The choice of the sport could vary by season (softball in the summer, basketball in the winter, etc) Chicago 16 inch slow pitch softball would be an excellent choice of games.

- Compensation would be based of a fixed percentage of the net profit, thereby avoiding the exorbitant salaries.

A team fielded in Chicago might look like this:

1 Baseball Ernie Banks
1 Baseball Ron Santo
1 Football Dick Butkus
1 Football John Morris
1 Basketball Jerry Sloan
1 Basketball Chet Walker
1 Hockey Bobby Hull
1 Boxer Mohammed Ali
1 College Mike Grabowski (No "Elite” Smithes allowed)
1 High School Craig Hullinger
1 No Experience Slats Grobnick
1 Sports Writer Tim Weigel

The question arises as to whether the league could attract the older big name players and whether enough fans would be attracted to make the effort worthwhile.

Certainly some former players could be attracted to the league. Many of these men thoroughly enjoyed the competition and fame. They could be expected to participate for a percentage of the profit. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the league could become very profitable. Certainly, it would be no great problem to attract the high school and college stars, and individuals with no experience.

Attracting substantial numbers of fans might be difficult. It is not clear whether fans follow teams because of the prowess of young men or whether simple competition, territorial loyalty, and comradery are more important. I personally believe the latter reasons account for team support and that the over the hill league could attract that support.

The baby boom is in its 30's and 40's now. It is already seeing most of its generation of athletes head toward retirement. The establishment of the "over the hill" league would allow this group to follow its stars through their lives and careers, instead of constantly realigning loyalties to ever younger, more overpaid, and more pampered athletes.

Several paths towards establishing the "Over the Hill" League may be pursued. The most obvious would be for each team of an existing league to form an "over the hill" team. This approach seems logical since existing teams and leagues have the know how, stadiums, contacts, and capital to implement and promote their teams. Existing leagues could also coordinate double headers and travel with their "youth" team and their "over the hill" team.

Another method for forming the league would be to form teams independent of existing teams or leagues. This approach has the strengths of attracting fresh venture capital and new and aggressive ideas, but suffers from lack of know-how and contacts.

A third implementation method would involve a player cooperative, with players providing the leadership and capital. The lack of a guiding entrepreneur would probably hinder this approach.

The "Over the Hill" League is a workable concept and should be implemented. It will be a profitable concern, providing entertainment and employment. It will help move America away from its preoccupation with youth and extend the values of competitive athletics into older groups.

2004-03-17T14:06:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Build the roads in a city or town right from the start. Use the mix of shredded rubber from tires and asphalt to make a mix that will last a very long time without repair and mending or new construction to repair a dilapidated section. Give a better ride for the car too. A good way of getting rid of all those enormous piles of tires laying around all over the nation.

coolbert.

2004-03-08T17:23:00.000-06:00

Hello.

2004-03-05T15:29:00.000-06:00

The Village of Mokena, Illinois has recently installed and upgraded the Will County Geographic Information System. Mokena GIS. The system is working well. The system can be accessed through several programs:

Arc2Exploer and Volo View, which are simple viewers. The more sophisticated and capable software is ArcMap from ESRI. This software allows you to create, manipulate, and print maps, and also allows you to link data base files to the GIS. The County system currently has tax numbers, addresses, tax assessments, tax codes, County zoning, aerial photography, etc. We have completed the Village Zoning Map and Comprehensive Plan. The maps can be easily updated.

Available maps include:

1999 BW Aerial Black & white aerial photos

2000 Census Tracts Census Tracts

Address Data Addresses

Aerial (Color aerials) Aerial Photographs

County Village Zoning County & Village Zoning

County Zoning County zoning map

Development Shows recent developments processed over
the past two years

LUP Land Use Plan - Village

Parcel Map Tax parcels

Parcel – topo Parcels with topography

Shaded Relief Mokena & environs showing topo to Lake MI

Village Zoning Village Zoning Map

Wetlands Map Shows wetlands in Mokena and surrounding
area

Maps that can be added:

Recapture areas

100 year flood plain

Transportation Plan Overlay

More recent aerials

Accident data

Crime location data

Sewer, water, & storm sewer lines, manholes, fire hydrants

Acrobat files showing annexation agreements

Acrobat files showing staff reports on development

Photographs tied to parcels

Building Permit data

Zoning Enforcement data

Proposed developments

ADDRESSES OF PARCELS FOR NOTIFICATION

The software permits you to identify an area for addresses that can be exported to a file for mailings. You have to establish a Join between the parcel layer (shapefile) and the Real Estate database (dBase File). The Real Estate database can be joined to the parcels by the PIN number. In ArcMap, right click on the layer name Parcels, point at Join and Relates option (middle of the context menu), and select join. After the Join, you will be able to bring up Real Estate information for each parcel.

To identify all property addresses within 250 feet of a subject parcel, select the subject parcel in ArcMap. Select the Selection by Location menu item in the Selection menu, You want to “select features from” the following layers (Parcels) that are within a distance of the features in this layer “Parcels”. Enter “250” feet for the buffer applied to the subject parcel. The property address information is located in the following fields: Parcel_Str (Parcel Street Name), Parcel_S_1 (Parcel Street Direction), and Parcel_S_2 Parcel Street Number.

UPDATES

The County will provide updates of the info each quarter. The Village should provide copies of all info that the Village collects or produces to the County. This includes subdivision drawings, engineering, land use plans, etc. The County is also going to conduct a high quality aerial photo shoot this year, so new aerial photos should be available.

POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS

You can quickly and easily import GIS images into Power Point Presentations. You copy the screen image to a file to import into Power Point. In ArcMap, press Alt Print Screen, copy to the clipboard, and they bring it into Power Point.

SKIMERHORN CARTOGRAPHICS

Delbert Skimerhorn is the consultant who set up the Mokena system. He can be reached at 815 937 2952 Extension 229, or by email at Dskimerhorn@K3County.net.

WILL COUNTY

Our thanks to Will County. Mike Shay has done an outstanding job getting the County GIS implemented and distributed to the municipalities.

2004-02-23T21:33:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: I agree that the building of a sub-division around a golf course is a great idea. I have seen such an area in Winfield and at White Eagle in Aurora. Of course White Eagle is really upper scale. The Winfield course was much more modest, perhaps nine holes only. But really boss. Residents in the nine hole sub-division seemed to have unlimited playing possibilities and did use the course on a regular basis. This was an added feature to the sub-division, playing privileges, and used by a considerable number of people, as far as I could tell. Around this area, from what I see, the trend is to have courses that are by appearance barren and Scottish like in nature, no trees. Prairie Landing at the Du Page County airport is the archetype of this concept.

coolbert.

2004-02-22T08:06:00.000-06:00

GOLF COURSE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A golf course surrounded by high quality residential development has become a popular development form. These type of developments are often completely private, but the participation of a municipality helps ensure the success of the development.

The following illustrates the benefits of a public/private partnership for the development of a golf course residential community.

FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Spur economic development and increase tax base
Enhance the prestige of the area
Increase open space
Secure wet land preservation
Provide storm water detention
Improve the appearance of the town
Assist in annexation of key property
Provide recreation

FOR THE DEVELOPER

Spur sales of surrounding development
Enhance the prestige of the development
Secure an owner of the golf course amenity
Assist in the finance of the golf course
Improve profitability
Lower costs for storm water detention
Assist in utility connection
Ensure governmental approval

2004-02-21T14:14:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Another idea to improve sub-divisions. NO mailboxes in front of the house. Either have a mailman deliver the mail on foot to your home, or have one central group of mailboxes in the subdivision with a sturdy group of mailboxes. Prevent vandals from smashing the individual mailboxes in front of the homes. Is an eyesore anyhow. Damn things are just tempting targets for the car-borne vandals with baseball bats.

coolbert.

2004-02-19T09:37:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Enforce city ordinances in the big cities to make them more enjoyable and more livable. NO panhandling. NONE at all. Crack down on such persons and stop them in their tracks. It is a known fact these persons are for the most part not the downtrodden homeless persons they claim they are. Panhandling is a business practiced by dissolute persons for the most part taking advantage of misplaced sentimentality.

coolbert.

2004-02-18T09:35:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: More things to make a town more livable. Enforce the ordinances of a town to the max extent, and in the manner that they were intended to be enforced. Dog leashes must be on dogs all time so they cannot roam loose. And not a 100' long leash either! A reasonable leash, say six feet max. Cats are not allowed to roam loose either. Not at all. No nuisance pets. No dogs barking constantly all day. If your dog is a nuisance, it will have to be gotten rid of. And no exceptions or quibbling about this either. Pets have their place. But keep them in their place. And clean up the dog mess too. Don't make it in the first place is best of course, but if you do have a dog making dog mess, clean it up.

coolbert.

2004-02-16T09:33:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Some ideas on how to make a community more livable. Build homes that have these features: NO fireplaces. Bedrooms in back of house only, not in the front. Attached garages in the rear of the house. Alleys for access to garages. Build homes where several generations can live in the same dwelling, if they wish. Build a large bedroom on the first floor with a full bath. Allow granny or grandpa to live in that room. Communities have to have a mix of people of all ages to be viable. Kids run amuck without supervision of elders.

coolbert.

2004-02-12T22:09:00.000-06:00

You have to go far into the countryside to escape urban light. Most city people do not realize that you can see the Milky Way in rural areas

2004-02-12T21:08:00.000-06:00

This is coolbert: Things to make a city a better place. One is to reduce light levels so you can see the stars at night. Streetlights and security lights and such can have some sort of baffle to make the light shine down but not outward. Light a smaller area better and don't shine in someone's window at night. Second is to eliminate the winding roads popular in subdivisions. Prevent people from pretending they are at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Stop people from going 50 mph in a 25 mph zone. Thirdly, eliminate cul-de-sacs. Why are they even built in the first place? What is the attraction? Fourth, stop people from parking on the sidewalk. People have so many vehicles they cannot park them all on the driveway and in the garage. Cannot park on the street at night time. So they park on the sidewalk and block foot traffic. Have a roving citizen patrol ticket these people or issue warnings. People need to get a handle on the number of cars they need!!

coolbert.

2004-02-06T08:49:00.000-06:00

Anyone have a parking ordinance that they think is good and that they would share? We are reworking our ordinance in Mokena.

Most ordinance that I have looked at require one parking space for 200 or 250 square feet of retail space, and one parking space per 100 square feet of restaurant. Anyone have a better idea?

2004-02-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

We attended an Andres Duany seminar for two hours last night at South Bend. He spoke for two hours, no questions, no illustrations. A number of interesting ideas, but nothing earth shattering.

His assessment of urban redevelopment was interesting. The first pioneers into a neighborhood are the risk oblivious - students, artists, etc, who often illegally move into old lofts. Then come the risk aware, and finally the risk averse. The neighborhood is then fully regentrified.

He also said that central cities are competing with their suburbs, not other cities. He said that suburban developers are very good at what they do, providing affordable and quality housing on large lots. Cities cannot compete with open space, golf courses, etc. Duany believes that what cities can provide is an active 24 hour street life, and that people will pay to be part of that environment. And he is correct, for large cities. I am not so sure about smaller cities.

He also made several cracks about vynal clad boxes. Just a little elitist. But of course this is ok if you are talking about the vast middle class, not the poor.

2004-02-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

Andres Duarny will be in South Bend to give a free lecture Zoning for Traditional Towns and Neighborhoods: Transect and Smart Code at 7 pm South Bend time – 6 our time.

You want to go?

Contact Chuck Eckenstahler for info

219-861-2077 mobile

219-879-1012 home office

219-879-5340 fax

pctecken@netnitco.net

2004-01-26T18:15:00.001-06:00

SMART GROWTH

IT'S MORE THAN AG PRESERVATION

AND STOPPING URBAN SPRAWL

By CRAIG HULLINGER AICP, CHUCK ECKENSTAHLER AICP and BETH RUYLE

Introduction

Smart Growth is the latest buzz word in the planning media. During 1999, there were over 100 various ballot initiatives concerning urban sprawl, growth management, open space and smart growth placed before the voters across the United States. Even candidates for the presidency of the United States discuss the concept of offering different federal funding strategies to assist states and local governments to reduce sprawl. In Illinois local officials are reviewing their plans to incorporate smart growth land use goals in response to national and statewide attention toward smarter land use planning.

Nevertheless, what is smart growth? How will governments determine if their local plans are smart growth oriented? Do we need to make changes so that our plans are smart growth oriented and ,if, so what changes do we need? The intent of this article is to answer these questions.

Smart growth means different things to different people. Some proponents think that any infrastructure improvements, such as new road, especially interstates, in suburban areas promote sprawl, or in their minds "unsmart growth." They believe that we should target federal and state resources to rebuild older central cities, whether or not these cities lack vitality. Obviously, this approach also has opposition. Some developers feel that smart growth means higher density development on smaller lots, which may provide for greater profits. Others feel that governments should purchase land to save it from development pressures. It becomes open space or could even continue to be farmed.

Not since the environmental movement of the 1970's have we seen such a public emphasis on land use and land regulation. The $10 billion Clinton Administration "Livability Agenda" which calls for the control of urban sprawl through preservation of open space and protection of water supply is only the beginning. The current attention to the issue of urban sprawl and wise management of our resources could result in new legislation and state policies addressing future new development. The concern for preservation of open space and protection of our resources has resulted in new resources and may initiate new legislation and state policies concerning land use controls.

Background and a Definition

Smart growth has grown from the anti sprawl development movement. In part, smart growth seeks to prevent leapfrog developments that are not contiguous to existing communities. A primary goal of smart growth is to save our most valuable natural resources and direct new development to areas where infrastructure is already in place, thus saving the expense of building new infrastructure and converting undeveloped land for urban uses.

The State of Maryland has enacted a "Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation" initiative, which they intended "to reverse the inefficient and often costly pattern of development that has been the standard in this country for the past half century." According to the Maryland model, smart growth has three straightforward goals:

To save our most valuable remaining natural resources before they are forever lost;

• To support existing communities and neighborhoods by targeting state resources to support development in areas where the infrastructure is already in place (or is planned) to support it; and

• To save taxpayers millions of dollars in the unnecessary cost of building the infrastructure required to support sprawl.

Many supporters of smart growth in Illinois identify with the Maryland goals. These goals support logically planned infrastructure and development.

Who's Doing What?

In Illinois, the smart growth movement is expanding rapidly. Besides supporters of wise infrastructure development, the movement has grown to encompass many diverse groups including open space preservationists, transportation planners, pro growth advocates, economic developers who seek the location of jobs closer to home and citizens seeking additional and higher levels of government services. Each group brings a specific agenda and view concerning the pattern of future land use.

In Northern Illinois, a quick inventory of interested groups would include the Metropolitan Chicago Mayors Caucus, the Northern Illinois Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Planning Council, Openlands Project and the State among others. County and multi-jurisdictional planning bodies will also become involved with smart growth initiatives as needs to plan for both redevelopment within existing communities and for expansion of the urban areas beyond local governmental jurisdictions become necessary.

Various research studies and, more recently, policies and recommendations for better land use management have been published by many of these groups. These studies are designed to provide information and simulate local officials to action, recognizing, in Illinois, land use planning and development regulations are administered by local government.

As the collective mayoral voice of municipalities in the Chicago region, the Metropolitan Chicago Mayors Caucus established the following vision and principles related to smart growth:

Vision

The Chicago metropolitan region will be a place where all residents enjoy a high quality of life characterized by access to jobs, economic opportunity, quality housing, educational opportunity, an effective transportation system, and a safe environment.

The mayors adopted the following principles to support their vision:

1. Regional growth and development policies, programs, and projects should respect local decision making authority.

2. Policies to guide the region's growth and development should be developed by the region.

3. Regional growth and development initiatives should promote balanced economic development throughout the Region.

4. Initiatives to promote the region's growth and development should employ positive incentives, not mandates or penalties.

5. Regional growth and development initiatives should respect personal and economic choice and the diversity of the Region's communities.

The most recent Smart Growth Vision was released by the Metropolitan Planning Council in December. "Building Stronger Communities" represents a year long effort to build consensus concerning smart growth for the greater Chicago region and the whole state. The study identified five goals which embody smart growth;

1. Protect open space,

2. Coordinate transportation with development,

3. Improve water quality,

4. Expand housing for workers, and

5. Coordinate and expand state support to local communities.

Smart Growth Graduates to Sensible or Sustainable Growth

Almost daily the local newspaper contains a report about future land development, whether it be titled smart growth, sustainable growth, sensible development or anti sprawl development. Usually the media summarize a state or local effort to achieve one or more of the goals stated above.

In Illinois Governor Ryan and the Illinois General Assembly have established the Illinois Growth Task Force to study smart growth and establish state policy and investment guidelines.

Many local governments are reviewing their plans and testing whether their current plans fulfill smart growth standards and provide for sensible and sustainable future development. One such group is the Eastern Will County Regional Council, an intergovernmental agency created for joint planning by the local governments in that area.

According to Ken Kramer, Chair of the Council and a Park Forest Trustee, "Eastern Will County is truly a microcosm of the State. In terms of smart growth, we represent older cities as well as fast growing rural communities. We need to improve existing roads. We need new roads built as well as better public transit to job centers. In the future we will be one of the fastest growing Illinois county and we must consider our need to house this expanding workforce."

"The goal of the Smart Growth Strategy for Eastern Will County will be to draw together our local governments to assure we have a land use plan which conserves resources and supports our ability to grow in the future. We also need to increase the number of jobs in our area, to reduce long commute times for our workers."

Kramer believes the Eastern Will County Regional Council is a proper vehicle for the study of smart growth since the council represents a group of communities which, while independent, must base their future planning on several common growth and development issues including transportation improvements and location of new employment opportunities. "Ultimately, the character of Eastern Will County will be shaped by the individual decisions made by each local government. Collective future planning will provide a chance to address quality of life issues, reduction of traffic congestion, increasing available jobs and reducing impact to our schools rather than reacting to new as it happens."

Testing The Local Plan For Smart Growth Consistency

Local officials should determine whether their community plan is a Smart Growth Plan. Below is a series of questions which can be used to test as to whether the plan could be considered a Smart Growth Plan.

1. Does the plan provide for increased land for new development adjoining the current developed area?

2. Does the plan call for developing vacant land within the existing pattern of development?

3. Does the plan promote the building or improving of new roads which will expand the pattern of development to vacant or existing agricultural land areas?

4. Does the plan specify land which should be preserved from development?

5. Does the plan require the installation of additional water and sewer lines, using state grants or loans, while current capacity remains unused?

6. Does the plan seek to decrease the average single family home lot size?

7. Does the plan consider more pedestrian pathways within the community including shopping/entertainment areas, schools, government buildings, etc. and have you considered road width and sidewalk requirements in new subdivisions.

8. Does the plan promote coordination of the pattern of land use with abutting neighbors?

9. Does the plan explore mass transportation for workers to reach their places of employment?

10. Does the plan include housing for families employed in jobs located in the community?

Fortunately, there is no correct answer nor wrong answer to these test questions. These questions form the basis for discussion and determination, by local officials, whether their plan meets their definition of smart growth.

What to Do with this Information

Citizens and the media will call upon individual communities in the next several years to test whether their community plans fulfill requirements for smart growth. It is possible that coordination with surrounding comminutes will be necessary. It is also possible that coordination with county, regional and state agencies will be required to assure that investment in roads and other infrastructure correspond with state and local established smart growth policies.

The long established land use planning rules are beginning to change with increasing demand on local governments to limit urban sprawl, to provide for more open space, to preserve agricultural land, and to lessen the dependance on the auto as the principal means of transportation. A review of the local plan today may identify changes necessary to reach conformance with forthcoming statewide smart growth policies. Careful attention should be given to Illinois Growth Task Force deliberations as the outcomes of the task force may indicate new statewide goals and possibly legislative initiatives which will shape the role of local government planning in the future.

About the Authors

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm engaged by the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village and Homewood to serve as their consulting planner. He holds two Masters' Degrees, one from Governors State University and the other form the University of Notre Dame. He is an active writer, having more than 100 articles published on various economic development, land use planning and real estate development topics. He can be contacted at 219-879-1012, or E-mail at pctecken@netnitco.net.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Services. He has served as the Will County Director of Land Use and Planning where he supervised planning, zoning, engineering, and building functions. He is currently working with the Villages of Minooka, Tinley Park, Mokena, Munster, IN, the Eastern Will County Regional Council, and as an expert witness. Craig has a BA Degree in Public Administration and a Master's Degree in Environmental Planning. He can be contacted at 708/ 532- 8991 or E-mail Craig@Hullinger.com

Beth Ruyle is a Financial Advisor with Ehlers and Associates. She recently served as the Director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association. For over twenty years she lead this thirty eight municipalities in this Council of Governments in the development of plans and programs. At Ehlers and Associates she is undertaking a myriad of projects in fiscal strategic planning, economic development, intergovernmental programs and public finance. Ruyle has her Master Degree in Public Administration from the University of Georgia. Contact Ruyle at 630/355-6100 or at E-mail bruyle@ehlers-inc.com.

For more information on Chuck or Craig visit our web page at http://www.Craig.Hullinger.com

For more information on Ehlers and Beth visit her web page at www.ehlers-inc.com.

May 2000 / Illinois Municipal Review

2004-01-26T18:15:00.000-06:00

THE ATTORNEY - PLANNER RELATIONSHIP

'KEY' TO GOOD LOCAL ZONING

by

Craig Hullinger AICP and Chuck Eckenstahler AICP

INTRODUCTION

Planners carry-out day-to-day zoning administration. The municipal attorney normally is involved in the zoning process through review of proposed ordinance language and with enforcement proceeding.

A positive working relationship between the planner and attorney is vital to successful zoning administration. This article examines the role of the planner and the municipal attorney in day-to-day administration of the planning and zoning process.

YOUR LAWYER - DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT HIM

Municipal planning and zoning have become more complex and legalistic. Gone are the days when the planning commission, zoning board of appeals and elected officials could "kick back" and informally decide what to do about a zoning request. Today the process of making the zoning decision requires strict adherence to procedures. Public notification and decision making is based on compliance with predetermined standards (typically contained in the local zoning ordinance).

In almost all cases the planner must be concerned with future litigation. The planner, planning commission, and Board must make decisions that will be upheld in court. Your lawyer is your expert, and an individual that you should rely on to ensure that your decisions will be fair, and will be viewed as fair by the courts.

MAKE FAIR AND LOGICAL DECISIONS BASED ON THE PLAN & ORDINANCE

Decision making by a planning commission and board should be fair and unbiased. If a project is turned down, the reasons for the denial should be clear. The decision should be documented. The public debate should be clearly summarized in the minutes of the Board meeting.

The motion to approve or deny should include the reasons for denial. In practice this seldom happens. After an acrimonious debate a board member will often move to deny without summarizing the reasons for denial. This enables the attorney for the developer to speculate as to why the development was denied in a subsequent legal challenge. The public will often vent against a project and offer testimony that is untrue or derogatory at the meeting. The local government must make it clear that they are not making their judgement on unfair or inaccurate testimony. It is important that the municipality explain clearly and factually in writing why the request was denied.

Some planners actually write out both motions to recommend approval or denial, with the reasons clearly stated. The reasons for denial or approval are taken directly from the ordinance, or State enabling legislation, or from the Comprehensive Plan.

FINDINGS OF FACT

A formal findings of fact prepared by the planner and attorney and adopted by the Plan Commission and referred to the legislative Board is the best protection against a law suit. The planner and attorney have time to prepare a logical summary of the legitimate reasons for approval or denial of the applicants request. The legislative Board typically adopts the findings a month or two after the denial, with emotion out of the decision making.

In practice most towns do not write and adopt a formal findings of fact. Alternately, they develop such a finding for major projects where litigation seems likely.

BE FAIR, OPEN AND HONEST

The developer before the Plan Commission is usually a successful businessman who is often betting his life savings on his project. You must treat him fairly. If the developer is proposing an unpopular project, citizens will speak out strongly against the proposal. At the public hearing the Chairman should keep order, and rule out of order testimony that is not pertinent to the case.

The planner has the most contact with the developer. The planner is often advising the developer, but must make sure that the developer understands that the planner is only an advisor to the Plan Commission. The Commission and Board can and will take action that is not consistent with the planners recommendation. The Plan Commission and legislative Board makes decisions. The planner owes both the developer and the Plan Commission his honest and open assessment of the project.

When it becomes clear that a Plan Commission will recommend denial of a project the planner should work closely with the attorney to ensure that no procedural errors are made. The attorney and planner must work to ensure that there is no case against the community.

THE COURTS AS A SUPER ZONING BOARD

Most judges do not wish to become a super zoning board. They do not typically overturn a local denial that is based on law and sound judgement.

The Courts and the local government should ensure that they have a logical and current Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance. The plan and code should be consistent. The goals and objectives of the plan and the purposes and intent of the zoning ordinance should be consistent. A simple restatement of purposes and intent in the zoning code that is taken directly from the State enabling legislation ensures that at least the purposes of the code are consistent with State enabling legislation.

MAKING SURE THAT YOUR DECISION MATCHES CASE LAW

In Illinois standards were established in the courts in two major cases. These standards will be considered by the courts in evaluating challenges to municipal zoning decisions. The planner and attorney should obviously consider these standards when making zoning decisions, and preferably state so in writing in the findings of fact.

LASALLE NATIONAL BANK v. COUNTY OF COOK (1957)

SINCLAIR PIPE LINE COMPANY v. RICHTON PARK (1960)

1. The existing uses and zoning of nearby property.

2. The extent to which property values are diminished by the particular zoning restrictions.

3. The extent to which the destruction of plaintiff's property values promote the health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the public.
4. Relative gain to the public compared to hardship imposed upon the individual property owner.

5. The suitability of the subject property for the zoned purposes.

6. The length of time the property has been vacant as zoned, considered in the context of land development in the vicinity.
7. Community need for the proposed land use.

8. The care with which the community had undertaken to plan its land use development.

A simple written statement with a paragraph explaining how your decision is consistent with these 8 standards is valuable. They form a good framework for your report to the board and your findings of fact.

THE TRACK RECORD OF YOUR COMMUNITY

Does your community make logical decisions on land use, or are your decisions unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious? Have your zoning decisions often been overturned by the courts, or are you usually upheld? You must try to make sure that the decisions of your Plan Commission and legislative Board is consistent. Communities often have developers who cause no problems, and other developers that cause major problems. You still must make sure that you treat both developers fairly.

YOUR LAWYER IS YOUR PARTNER

It is important that your lawyer is your partner in working with your community. His training is different than yours, and he sees things in a different way. You need to work closely with him or her to ensure that you and your community make consistent, logical, and fair decisions based on law.

About the Authors

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm which has consulted with the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village Glenwood and Homewood as their consulting planner. He holds two Masters' Degrees, one from Governors State University and the other from the University of Notre Dame. He is an active writer, having more than 150 articles published on various economic development, land use planning and real estate development topics. He can be contacted at 219-879-1012, or E-mail at pctecken@netnitco.net.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Services. He has served as the Will County Director of Land Use and Planning where he supervised planning, zoning, engineering, and building functions. He is currently working with the Villages of Minooka, Tinley Park, Mokena, Munster, IN, the Eastern Will County Regional Council, and as an expert witness. Craig has a BA Degree in Public Administration and a Master's Degree in Environmental Planning. He can be contacted at 708/ 532- 8991 or E-mail Craig@Hullinger.com.

For more information on Chuck or Craig visit our web page at http://www.Craig.Hullinger.com

2004-01-26T18:14:00.000-06:00

Position Yourself For Media Exposure

Beecher Unveils Its Business Park

By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER, AICP and CRAIG HULLINGER, AICP

Introduction

Everybody likes good press. Both elected and appointed officials know that good media coverage of noteworthily events is important for informing constituents and others about key accomplishments in the community. A positive image of development in the community is a key element to continuing to attract and retain quality business to the community.

This is especially true for successful economic development projects. Good media coverage takes planning. This article profiles the Village of Beecher and the ground breaking for the village’s first business park.

Background

Beecher, a small rural south suburban Chicago community, began planning for its transition into a more urban community a number of years ago. As the State of Illinois has been planning the third airport for Chicago near the western border of the village, Beecher recognized that its rural small town character needed to be protected while new land for residential and other land uses was “mapped-out.” The 1998 comprehensive plan update called for the development of a major business park at the northern boundary of the village, in close proximity of the east entry to the proposed airport. Village planners and trustees recognized the need for the business park for jobs and tax base regardless of whether the airport is built or not.

Beecher located on Illinois Route 1, a state north-south highway. The village is twenty minutes south of I-80/I-294 Interstate roadway. Community officials recognized that development of a successful business park would be more difficult than in other communities with better transportation access. Therefore, the village undertook a program to identify a market niche for smaller businesses where the management of the business already had knowledge of the Beecher community and wished to expand or move to the village because of its small town character and values. The development strategy was successful when in the Fall of 1998, a small business owner identified twenty acres of land within the village designated industrial area for the relocation of his expanding business.

Plans for the Trim Creek Business Park, a 15-lot industrial park, were approved in the Spring of 1999. Dutch American Foods, with plans for a 75,000 square foot facility, would break ground simultaneously and occupy four lots.

Preparing For The Groundbreaking

Getting ready for the biggest event in recent Beecher history was no small undertaking according to Paul Lohmann, Village President. “We instructed village staff to carefully plan-out the ground breaking. We wanted the whole world to know about Beecher. We wanted the big-city media to cover the event allowing us to position Beecher as a small progressive community ready for the future.”

Village Administrator Bob Barber spearheaded the pre-groundbreaking preparation. Besides the groundbreaking event, a display illustration, media packet and a social event needed to be prepared.

The following summarizes some of the decision strategies:

Set The Date And Time For The GroundBreaking

The first job to complete was to set the date and time for the groundbreaking. While this sounded easy, checking with key individuals’ schedules showed that no date would meet everyone’s needs. A Monday was the first preference since area legislators would not be in session and the news media typically do not have critical publication deadlines pending. A Monday was not suitable for other village leaders, however. A Wednesday afternoon was chosen because it fit the schedule of the speakers. However, this made media attendance less likely.

GroundBreaking Announcement And Invitation List

A list of more than 300 names was developed. The list included all key governmental officials, representatives of local economic development groups, chambers of commerce and news media. Because the village wanted to inform the real estate industry of the new business park, about one-third of the invitations were sent to various real estate companies and developers.

Barber prepared two invitations, an announcement sent by US Mail and a one-page fax announcement distributed by the Joliet/Will County Chamber of Commerce to its media and prospect contact list. In total, Barber estimated that more than 500 persons received information about the groundbreaking.

Project Site Sign And Illustration

Working with the developer, the village sketched-out a display sign for installation on the property illustrating the 15-lot industrial subdivision and contact information. The village wanted a colorful sign that would also serve as a backdrop for the groundbreaking activities and photographs that would be taken. The illustration for the sign was also used for a one-page (faxable) illustration the village intended to use for further economic development promotion activities.

Media Kit And Photography

The last item prepared was a fact kit to be given to the media before the groundbreaking. The kit provided all the information the media would need to write a story. This information kit could also pique interest of the media to attend the session. In either case, Barber felt that media would have all the information necessary to “cover the story,” hoping that Beecher’s groundbreaking would be carried in many publications that would otherwise not be interested.

The media kit included a one-page summary of the industrial project and illustration and a one-page description of Dutch American Foods, the first occupant of the business park. It also included.directions to the industrial park accompanied with a groundbreaking invitation, and photographs of groundbreaking, which were taken previously to provide photos for media who could not be present.

A Successful Groundbreaking

Village President Lohmann was delighted with the turn out for the groundbreaking. “We had more than ninety persons attend, including our Congressman and area legislators and representatives from the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, the Will County Center for Economic Development, the Southland Economic Development Alliance, local and regional chambers of commerce, county board commissioners, and a number of businesses and Realtors,” he said. “We took photographs of each dignitary and sent them a commemorative photo with a thank you for attending. Many of these photos were published in their newsletters that further spread the news about our groundbreaking.”

Summary

Barber summarized the ground breaking quite simply. “We wanted to tell the world about our success in developing our long-awaited business park. We wanted the promotion effort to target the real estate community and catch the eye of the businesses familiar with our community who may be thinking about moving or expanding their business,” he said. “Since we didn’t have a big budget and we knew that the regional and national publications wouldn’t send a reporter to cover the groundbreaking, we prepared their information for them in hopes they would write about our success and they did,” he added.

Coverage of the groundbreaking was carried in two regional newspapers that traditionally do not cover Beecher news. Most impressive was front page coverage in Chicago Industrial Properties, a monthly real estate publication distributed to commercial and industrial real estate professionals and corporate real estate interests.

Results are shown by the number of prospects that responded to an article in the media or the announcement, according to Barber. “From our promotional efforts, several phone inquiries were received. When boiled-down these have resulted in three businesses interested in locating in the new business park.”

Some Things To Remember

Positioning yourself for media exposure requires careful planning, especially if you do not already have a working relationship with the medial. Here are some rules to follow:

1. Develop The Right Mind Set

Reporters have responsibility to decide what is newsworthy and how to present information in their publication. While your project may be the most important event in your community, it may be insignificant when viewed among other events happening now.

Scheduling the groundbreaking to a date and time when there will not be competing events is a good strategy to raise the importance and news worthiness of your groundbreaking. Providing a media packet, so the reporter can quickly prepare written copy, can also make your groundbreaking newsworthy, when a reporter’s time is scarce.

2. Prepare A Media Kit

The fact sheet, a one-or-two page description of the project, answering the reporters questions: Who? What? Where? When? How? and Why? is the most important item to prepare. The fact sheet should be written to relay information in a quickly read and easily understandable fashion.

The transmittal letter to the media contact is also important. This letter should state why you are submitting the information and why it will be of interest to the readers of the magazine or newspaper.

Follow-up contact information is also important. A spokesperson for the community, industrial park developer and business should be designated and included in the packet. Most important is the phone number(s) where key contracts can be contacted.

Professional quality illustrations, site plans, project logos and building drawing should also be enclosed. Providing “professional quality reproduceable” art work increases the chance that the publication will include the art work with the narrative story. A simple, clearly drawn site plan of the development is far more acceptable than drawings with lots of information that when reduced cannot easily be read. 3. Take Groundbreaking Photos For Distribution At The Groundbreaking

Most reporters like to have good quality photographs which they can reproduce and use to highlight an article. In many situations, it is advisable to hold a “photo shoot” and prepare the groundbreaking photos before the actual date of the groundbreaking. This does two things. It allows the photo shoot to be done on a day with the most favorable weather conditions. It also allows the community to have photos available to distribute to news media who cannot send a photographer or where the weather conditions will limit the quality of the photographs.

It sound logical, but remember to include the names and affiliation of all persons in the photo on the back of any photo sent to the media, including the name and phone number of a contact person. Often the person responsible for the photo will not be the writer and having the name of the contact person available makes getting the last minute question answered an easier task.

4. Follow-up

Media contact does not stop after the media kit is placed into the mail. Follow-up is important. It allows you to check whether the publication will publish the information and gives the community the opportunity to develop a relationship with the media for the future.

The follow-up probe should include confirmation that they received the media kit, an offer to answer any questions and an indication of your willingness to provide any additional information. If an article was published, the follow-up should be a thank-you to the editor or writer.

Conclusion

Having the right mind set, identifying the specific media sources, preparing your materials, mailing the media kit and completing follow-up are the fundamental steps required for a successful media announcement effort. Media relations takes time. However, a carefully planned program assures a greater chance that the editor or writer will include your information in their publication. n

____________________

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm engaged by the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village and Homewood to serve as their consulting planner.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is a governmental planning consultant and President of Planning Development Services. He recently reentered private practice after serving as the Assistant Village Manager for Tinley Park, and currently serves as the Manager for the Village of Minooka.

2004-01-26T18:12:00.000-06:00

Position Your Project For Quick Municipal Approval

“Recommendations for Applicants Entering The Plan and Zoning Process”

By CRAIG HULLINGER AICP and CHUCK ECKENSTAHLER AICP

Introduction

It is inevitable that proposed new development will meet stiff opposition in the approval process. In the minds of many people, any new development will impact everything from traffic on existing roads to consuming valued open space. Some plan commission meetings resemble open warfare between developers and concerned citizens with the plan commission acting as reluctant referees. Neither the applicant nor the plan commissioner wishes to participate in these angry and unproductive meetings.

With an understanding that open warfare can erupt at any time, what’s a plan commission to do? Whether it is a new project or a routine decision before the plan commission (or zoning board), we recommend the municipality advise (or preferably require) the applicant to prepare for the public presentation and hearing process. It pays for the applicant to be well prepared, and to approach the community with a willingness to compromise.

Increasing The Odds For Approval

It is a duty of a good municipal planning staff to advise the applicant concerning the preparation of the application and public presentation procedures. These procedures vary from community to community. Both the individual who has never processed a request before and the most experienced developers appreciate this “coaching” because it allows then to prepare and present their request in the “best possible light.”

This coaching also helps the plan commission, since it informs the applicant of the process of the meeting and the type of information which the plan commission desires to see publically presented. It gives the applicant time to organize a public presentation including expert presentations and display drawings to illustrate important elements of their proposal.

Below is a list of ten guidelines we give to applicants to help them “increase the odds” of making a winning presentation.

1.Do Your Homework

Too often applicants before the plan commission do not come prepared and “ad-lib” responses to pointed questions put forth by citizens during the public hearing. We recommend to applicants that they attend meetings to see how the process works and to gain an understanding of the type of questions raised by citizens and the members.

We urge all applicants to prepare for the meeting and come ready to answer questions. We also suggest that large “display-sized” drawing and maps be prepared and used to illustrate the key points of the applicant’s request.

2.Understand the Communities Growth Policies

Every community views growth and development differently. Some welcome new development while others are somewhat more particular and support only certain types of new development. We recommend applicants take time to review the Comprehensive Plan and discuss their proposal with local officials. These discussions usually identify whether the proposal conforms with the general intent of the Comprehensive Plan and “unwritten” desires of the plan commission and community.

The closer the proposal conforms to the “written and unwritten” growth policies, the greater likelihood of acceptance of the proposal. Crafting a development proposal which conforms to the intent of the community growth policies, obviously, will receive a more favorable consideration than one which doesn’t.

3.Identify How the Project Will Benefit The Community

In the fiscally constrained local governmental financial environment of today, many local governments examine the financial merits of every new development proposal. They assess whether the cost for municipal services and infrastructure will exceed the tax revenue generated by the real estate property, sales and income taxes the community will receive as a result of the new development.

We suggest that applicants consider having a cost-benefit analysis completed to test whether the proposed development will pay “its fair share” of costs. In cases where the development does not meet local financial obligations, we encourage the developer to reconsider the type of development proposed or to evaluate the possibility of donations to off-set potential revenue losses.

4.Go The Extra Mile Attitude

Gaining approval of a new development today is often a negotiation process. Developers, realizing that communities do not have to approve a request, spend more money and time in the preparation of the application for approval. We see more attention to the growth policies of the communities being given by the developers and a greater sensitivity to meeting the fiscal needs of the community than in the past. Applicants who are ready to “go this additional mile” are received with enthusiasm and have the greatest chance to secure approvals.

5.Know Your Legal Position

Development is governed by number of local ordinances, state laws and regulations. In addition there can be private restrictions in the form of deed restrictions, easements and “clouded” ownership.

Applications sometimes are submitted without completing research of permits and restrictions which may alter the development proposal when discovered.

We recommend that property title research be completed and that applications for “curb cuts,” water/sewer connections, storm water systems, floodplain alteration and wetland permits be submitted as needed, as early as possible in the concept development process. This knowledge assures that required permits can be obtained and no legal objection to the development of the proposed concept will be encountered.

We also recommend applicants know the rules prescribed by the zoning ordinance for the subject property. This knowledge gives a base line density determination for the property and a measurement tool for any negotiated changes.

6.Don’t Overlook The Opportunity For Innovation

Innovative planning techniques such as traditional neighborhood development, zero lot line development, transit orientated development, cluster development and the like are being discussed as means to achieve smart growth and reduce “urban sprawl.” We encourage developers to recognize that communities are willing to consider innovative development, sometimes of higher density with less development costs, where a carefully crafted development plan fulfill local community development goals. Obviously, in cases where an application supports a desired innovative development concept, the application approval process is likely to be easier.

7.Be Willing To Scale Back

Developers seek to maximize their return on investment in land, often seeking to build the greatest number of housing units (or other buildings) as permitted by the zoning ordinance. We recommend applicants take a “hard look” at the development opportunity in light of the community plan and unwritten development polices before finalizing any concept plan for a specific project. Proposing maximum density of development for a site viewed as a lower density development site by the plan commission, will almost always give rise to lengthy debate and review.

8.Trade Density For Open Space or Cost Reductions

Applicants should recognize the overwhelming desire expressed by citizens for more open space. Innovative design which clusters development allowing greater sized open space areas are viewed positively by most communities. We encourage developers to consider asking for additional density for provision of larger land areas left in open space especially with creative designs which provide access to the open space through the total development.

9.Listen and Show Respect for Local Officials

This is another obvious statement, however, we have found that many times an applicant will bluster in to a community demanding prompt approval due to a “short deadline.” It must be recognized that plan commissioners must deal with residents concerns and need time to review and complete their job.

Applicants who rush the process and “push” the decision process without regard for the plan commission members’ time and need for review seriously hinder a respectful dialogue.

10.Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say

We have attended meetings where applicants “promise the world” and conveniently forget the promises once the development is completed. We caution applicants to be honest in their commitments and fulfill their promises.
Conclusions

It is important to understand the role of each member participating in the decision process; applicant, plan commission and staff. Not every project, even though that’s what the applicant wants, will pass through the approval process without change.

Preparation and understanding is the “key” to achieving an approval supported by all parties of the process. Understanding an applying the about principles provides for a higher chance of success n

____________________

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm which has consulted with the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village Glenwood and Homewood as their consulting planner.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Services. He has served as the Will County Director of Land Use and Planning where he supervised planning, zoning, engineering, and building functions. He is currently working with the Villages of Minooka, Tinley Park, Mokena, Munster, IN and the Eastern Will County Regional Council.

2004-01-26T18:11:00.001-06:00

You Can’t Do That - It’s Spot Zoning!

By CRAIG HULLINGER, AICP and CHUCK ECKENSTAHLER, AICP

Introduction

Almost every Plan Commission has heard the statement that the Commission cannot approve a rezoning request because it will create a spot zone. Most often this statement is made by a disgruntled adjoining property owner who objects to the proposed use. The objector infers the Plan Commission is doing something wrong and possibly illegal by creating a spot zone.

This article is intended to demystify spot zoning. The term “spot zoning” is a misnomer. A spot zone cannot be created if the Plan Commission carefully considers the facts of the property, the proposed land use and relies on an up-to-date adopted Comprehensive Plan as the guide for the application of zoning regulations for the specific property.

Spot - A Definition

The term “spot zoning” is not used or defined in most planning and zoning legislation. Spot zoning is a colloquial term developed to describe the application of a specific zoning district classification to a small area surrounded by a larger different (usually less intense) zoning district.

Webster defines a spot as 1) a particular place of relatively small definite limits, 2) a mark on a surface differing sharply in color from its surroundings, 3) a position or location and 4) a set of circumstances; a situation, especially a troublesome one.

In the case of Landcaster Development Ltd. v. Villages of River Forest (1st Dist.1967) the Illinois court stated for a decision “to constitute spot zoning, two requisites must coexist: First, a change of the zone applicable to a small area and second, a change that is out of harmony with comprehensive planning for the good of the community.”

The term spot zoning is most often used to describe an action where a municipality has rezoned a relatively small parcel of land and granted some special benefit. The parcel of land is then shown on the community zoning map as one color within a larger zoning district of a different color. However, the accusation could be made in many other rezoning situations.

Rezoning Issues To Consider

In Illinois standards were established in the courts in two major cases; LaSalle National Bank and Richton Park. These standards will be considered by the courts in evaluating challenges to municipal zoning decisions. Municipalities should obviously consider these standards when deciding zoning decisions:

1.The existing uses and zoning of nearby property.

2.The extent to which property values are diminished by the particular zoning restriction.

3.The extent to which the destruction of plaintiffs’ property values promote the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the public.

4.Relative gain to the public compared to the hardship imposed upon the property owner.

5.The suitability of the subject property for the zoned purposes.

6.The length of time the property has been vacant as zoned considered in the context of land development in the vicinity.

7.Community need for the proposed land use.

8.The care with which the community had undertaken to plan its land use development

By carefully considering these criterion, a Plan Commission can be more confident that a court will subsequently support the municipal decision. Including this criterion in the decision record of the zoning case is logical, with a short statement explaining how the municipal decision is consistent with these eight standards. Also note that no concerns about spot zoning are listed in these standards.

Preventing Spot Zoning

Good planning practices will prevent appearances of spot zoning. Adherence to the standards and an up-to-date comprehensive plan describing the intended use of the land that is in the best interest of the community virtually eliminates the problem.

Zoning decision-making which relies on the eight zoning standards, clearly establishes a rationale why a requested rezoning should be granted. Secondly, the use of the comprehensive plan for justification of the decision documents that the decision was made “for the good of the community.”

Spot Zoning — Dos And Don’ts

•DO - evaluate each rezoning on its individual merits using the eight standards. A written record of the rationale should be prepared.

•DO - reference the Comprehensive Plan as documentation for why a decision has been made.

•DO - amend the Comprehensive Plan (preferably before granting the rezoning) if a decision is made which is inconsistent with the current plan.

•DON’T - succumb to public pressure. Spot zoning is often used as a threat by those who may object to the rezoning.

•DON’T - worry about the size of the parcel(s) of land under consideration. Rather, consider the importance of the proposed land use and its interrelationship with surrounding properties.

Conclusions

Careful adherence to the comprehensive plan and the eight legal standards is the best method of ensuring that zoning decisions are fair. The best defense to a challenge of spot zoning is reference to the action being in the best interest of the community documented in the Comprehensive Plan and shown on its Future Land Use Plan. The decision record should clearly state the reason the request was approved or denied.

2004-01-26T18:11:00.000-06:00

Does Comprehensive Planning Work?

By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER, AICP and CRAIG HULLINGER, AICP

Introduction

Does our Comprehensive Plan function as it was intended? Does it guide land use decisions? Should it be updated or replaced? These are common questions frequently raised by elected officials and planning staff. But it was of more recent concern to Bill Ernat, Community Development Director for the Village of Homewood. “ The Board of Trustees, after several months of discussion, authorized the update of our plan last updated in 1986,” said Ernat. “ The Trustees questioned whether the Plan was effective and worthwhile. They asked if it had helped guide past land use decisions, and was in need of updating.”

As the first step in preparing an update to the plan, Ernat wanted to know if officials and village administrators thought that the current plan was valid. He also wanted to know whether the Plan had influenced past and current decision making in the village.

To gather information, the Village Planning Consultant was instructed to survey thirty key officials. Included in the roster were all elected officials; the members of the Plan Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals; chairmen of several advisory committees and commissions, such as the Economic Development Committee and Appearance Commission; the Park District; as well as village management staff and department heads.

The Survey

Data was collected on two primary issues. The first issue was to test whether the current plan (prepared in 1986) was still valid for current use. The second issue questioned the respondees’ familiarity with the plan and whether they personally viewed the document as influential in decision-making.

Survey Findings

Responses were returned by about one-half of the key village leaders. While the survey was not a true statistical sampling, the results were felt to represent a realistic portrayal of the attitudes of village leadership. The results of the survey, by question, follow:

Is the current plan valid?

14% said yes, 29% said no and 57% said they didn’t know.

Is the current plan relevant for the future?

14% said yes, 21% said no and 64% said they didn’t know.

Have you read the plan?

14% said yes, 71% said no and 14% had no opinion.

Has the plan provided guidance for decision-making?

36% indicated some and substantial, 14% said little and 50% said none.

What Homewood Officials Realized

Village President Richard Hofeld wasn’t surprised with the results of the survey, but a little disappointed. “We take pride in the process of local government decision-making in Homewood,” said Hofeld. “I am happy that more than a third of the respondees indicate the plan influences our decision-making process. What’s more disturbing is the uncertainty of whether the plan is a valid decision-making tool now and in the future. These survey findings really confirm that we made the right decision to update the plan. The process of the update will provide the opportunity for the leadership and all residents to reacquaint themselves with the plan and our development goals for the future.”

Ernat suggests there may be a number of reasons for the survey results, including:

1.Timeliness of the Plan

The plan document was more than 10 years old. Many changes had occurred in the community since the plan was last updated. It can be surmised that many of the leaders would view the document as out of date. Many leaders had not bothered reading the document, assuming it was out of date.

2.Personalization and Community Ownership of the Plan

Another reason could be the existence of new participants in village planning and governmental administration, many who have specific ideas of what direction future planning should take.

3.Lack of Validity

It can be surmised that the content of the plan may be out-of-date, so why bother to read it!

What Was Learned From The Survey Process?

Ernat states that the village learned from the survey that, “Our plan was no longer an up-to-date document. A plan has a useful shelf life. That time period is different in every community and is based on many factors. Most important is who participates in the process of preparing the plan, what issues are addressed and how the document is amended to remain current. Probably just as important is how the document is promoted by elected and appointed officials as the village tool for decision making.”

The update process of the Homewood Comprehensive Plan included six neighborhood public input sessions, interviews with the key leaders, and a wide variety of discussion sessions with advisory bodies and resident interest groups. The outcome, in addition to the traditional big report, will be an Executive Summary “Brochure Plan” summarizing future development policies. The brochure will include a copy of the Future Land Use Map of the village. This document will be used to promote the updated Comprehensive Plan as an easily recognized decision making tool for both government and private sector use.

What Other Communities Should Know

Almost every elected official has heard the advice on how important it is to have a current plan when defending legal challenges to land use decisions in court. However, there are a number of other benefits, including:

1.Elected and appointed officials are more likely to make a concerted effort to use the plan in making land use decisions if they were involved in its development and adoption. Listening to citizens’ input makes elected officials more aware and knowledgeable of the community.

2.The preparation of the plan must include a wide range of interests and the maximum number of participants to assure “ownership” of the plan.

3.The document must be widely distributed in a concise format which is easily read by the general public.

4.Elected officials and community leaders must promote awareness of the Comprehensive Plan and its importance in decision making.

5.Staff should consider use of the Plan for influencing development decisions by distribution of the Plan as a statement of what the community likes and dislikes in terms of new development within the community.

6.Elected officials and staff should always include reference to the Comprehensive Plan in the approval and denial of development actions.

7.Annually, the test of current validity and the need for updating should be considered to retain high visibility, use and public recognition of the Comprehensive Plan as a guide for decision making.

8.When the Board makes a decision that does not comply with the Plan, the Plan should be formally amended so that the Plan remains consistent with that decision.

9.A large, full-color Land Use Plan Map, containing goals and objectives, and principal recommendations should be framed and mounted in the Village Board room.

Conclusion

Village Manager Dave Niemeyer sums up the feelings of elected and appointed officials plus administrative staff this way. “We will ask the same questions about a year after adoption of the Comprehensive Plan Update. I’ll bet the results of the survey will show opposite results. We intend to ask these questions annually, to determine when to update the plan next. Homewood officials have a vision for the future. Our updated Comprehensive Plan will serve its intended purpose.” Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, MI, planning consulting firm engaged by the Illinois communities of Beecher, Sauk Village and Homewood to serve as their consulting planner.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is a governmental planning consultant and President of Planning Development Services. He recently reentered private practice after serving as the Assistant Village Manager for Tinley Park. He also has served as Will County Director of Land Use.

2004-01-26T18:10:00.000-06:00

Defining Accessory Uses A Three-Step Work Sheet

By: CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER, ACP

and CRAIG H. HULLINGER, AICP

Introduction

Complaints about red tape in the processing of zoning requests are frequent. Developers and citizens are frequently frustrated by the time required to process simple requests. Local governments should streamline processes where possible.

Accessory uses are incidental to the principal permitted use in zoning districts. Typical accessory uses include storage sheds in the rear yard of a residential lot. Home occupations are other examples of frequently requested accessory uses.

Zoning ordinances often do not include a list of accessory uses. They seldom provide a guide in determining whether a specific proposal should be considered an accessory use. The determination of whether the application is an accessory use is usually delegated to the Zoning Officer who may or may not be empowered to grant approval. Some ordinances provide that the Zoning Board of Appeals determine accessory uses, some designate the Zoning Enforcement Officer and some are silent on the matter.

This article seeks to establish a three-part test which can be used to determine accessory uses. A worksheet is provided which can be used to guide local government decision making. The article also seeks to streamline the approval process, and reduce time and frustration for applicants and enforcement personnel.

An Example Situation

To illustrate a typical situation, consider the following. A local landscaping service has a retail sales and service yard located on a commercially zoned lot abutting the main commercial street in your community. Like a lot of landscaping businesses, it has expanded to do tree trimming, lawn mowing and other home maintenance chores throughout the community. With the expanded business, the service has hired more residents, especially high school and college kids, during the summer months. With a fleet of vehicles, it was a natural need to have a radio communication system to keep in contact with all the work teams circulating with within the community. Approval of a radio tower as an accessory use was granted to help the successful growth of the business, some time back.

Today, an application for a cellular communication tower designed to replace the approved radio communications tower has been filed. The application states the new tower is an accessory use to the business, because it is needed to communicate over a larger service territory. It will also be leased by a cellular phone company to provide mobile phone communications services.

Defining Customary And Incidental

The critical issue of this situation is defining whether the circumstances, the location of the tower for the use by the landscaping business, is customary and incidental to the landscaping business and secondly, whether the use of the tower as a cellular communications tower is customary and incidental to the landscaping business. To help answer the question, the following questions can be asked:

1.Is the accessory use to be conducted on the same lot as the principal permitted use?

In this situation, the use of the tower for radio communications for the landscaping business is clearly accessory to the landscaping business operations. It can be concluded the use of the tower for cellular communications is not an accessory use because no other cellular business operations are located on the site.

2.Is the proposed accessory use customarily found in connection with the principal permitted use?

It is not unusual for a landscaping (or similar business) to have a radio tower for communications purposes and it can be concluded that the tower, when used in this manner, would be considered an accessory use. However, it is more difficult to find a communications tower jointly used by a landscaping business and a cellular communications business. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of the tower for this purpose, because it is not commonly found and does not have any direct relationship with the landscaping business, would not pass the test as an accessory use incidental to principal use.

3.Is there unity of ownership between the principal and accessory uses?

For this question, clearly the ownership of the tower by the landscaping business for their use meets the guidelines and the leasehold interest of the communications company does not. Therefore, the tower would be an accessory use for the landscaping business but not the communications company.

The Decision

Use of the three questions provide guidelines for the analysis of this complex situation. Findings of fact gathered from the above analysis include:

1.The location of a radio communications tower for use by the landscaping business is an accessory use of the landscaping business. The tower is located on the same zoning lot as the business, a radio communication system is commonly found in use by other landscaping business and related type businesses and the tower is owned by the business.

2.The use of the tower by a cellular communications company is not an accessory use. The tower is not on the same zoning lot as any principal communication company use, use of a tower for such purposes is not usually located with a landscaping business and the tower is not owned by the cellular communication company.

Therefore, the community would approve the tower for use by the landscaping business but prohibit the use of the tower for use as a cellular communications tower.

A Simple Work Sheet

The work sheet, displayed below, can be used to help evaluate accessory use applications and become part of the application file documentation. If answers to all three questions posed in the work sheet are yes, then there is substantiation for the claim that the proposed use is accessory to the principal permitted use.

ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS - PLANNING DEPARTMENT Village of Sauk Village, Illinois
ACCESSORY USE DETERMINATION WORKSHEET 21701 Torrence Avenue

Sauk Village, IL 60411

(708)758-3330

Fax: (708) 758-9044
Zoning Case:_____________________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________________

12/10/98
Commissioner: ___________________________________________

STANDARDS FOR REVIEW

STANDARD
APPLICABILITY
COMMENTS

1. Is the accessory use to be conducted on the same lot as the principal permitted use? Yes
No
Uncertain
2. Is the proposed accessory use customarily found in connection with the principal permitted use? Yes
No
Uncertain
3. Is their unity of ownership between the principal and accessory uses? Yes
No
Uncertain

Conclusion
More and more often plan commissions, zoning boards of appeals and zoning officials will be faced with the question of when to approve an apparent unrelated use as an accessory use on a single zoning lot. Along with the tower example other situations such as storage sheds for hobby (and retail sales) use, living units as part of commercial and industrial businesses, and manufacturing uses as part of a retail sales business have potential to be considered as accessory uses, depending on the construction of the language in the local zoning ordinance. Use of the work sheet allows the analysis of the individual circumstances of each application and uniform application of guidelines to help decision making. n
____________________
Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Associates. He has 25 years of experience. He has recently served as the Assistant Manager for the Village of Tinley Park, and the Director of Will County Land Use Department where he was responsible for the planning, zoning, engineering, building and solid waste functions for the rapidly growing county south of Chicago.
Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, CED, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm engaged by the Villages of Beecher and Sauk Village to serve as their planner. He is the former Executive Director of both the Berrien County and Southwest Michigan Regional Planning commissions.

2004-01-26T18:09:00.000-06:00

Congratulations: You’re Our Newest Plan Commissioner. So Now What Do You Do?

By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER and CRAIG H. HULINGER

Introduction

Being appointed to a Plan Commission is an honor very few residents of a community ever receive. Where else can you serve your community where you need to have the wisdom of a seasoned judge, the patience of a saint, familiarity with the legalities of land use law, and a personal sense of doing what is right for the common good?

Serving on a Plan Commission is not easy but it can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a person’s life. This article summarizes the basic functions of the Plan Commission and the everyday responsibilities of the Plan Commissioner.

Duties Of The Plan Commission

A Plan Commission, under Illinois law, is primarily an advisory body to the city council, village board of trustees or county board of commissioners. The jobs assigned to the Plan Commission are rather few, but significant:

· to gather public input and recommend to the legislative body the adoption of a comprehensive Plan for the municipality;

· to gather public input and recommend to the legislative body the adoption of a Zoning Ordinance for the municipality;

· to review and/or approve new development - more specifically site development plans for specific projects; and

· to review and/or approve plats of subdivision.

In many portions of Illinois, planning and zoning programs have a long history. In others, communities are just beginning to develop a comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance. Whether you have been appointed to a new or seasoned Plan Commission, it will involve the same procedures and require a considerable amount of research and preparation.

In Illinois, the Plan Commission prepares the Comprehensive Plan, holds the required public hearings and makes a recommendation to the legislative body regarding its adoption. The zoning ordinance follows a similar process, where the Plan Commission oversees the preparation of the ordinance, holds the required public hearing and recommends its adoption.

Once these documents are adopted, the Plan Commission assumes the duty of reviewing development proposals, development site plans and plats of subdivided land. Typically, the review is designed to assure that the proposed development is completed according to regulations and development standards established by the community. The Plan Commission may also decide whether or not certain types of development will be allowed as special uses or planned developments according to specific provisions of the zoning ordinance.

The Plan Commission also functions as the “think-tank” and “community sounding board.” It provides a mechanism to publically introduce new ideas and concepts for a better community for evaluation, approval and implementation by the legislative body. Most often it is an individual commissioner, who researches the idea, presents the idea to the public for comment and then molds the idea into a specific plan for implementation. This process is not for the faint of heart since Plan Commissioners, even when provided professional staff, spend a large amount of personal time in order to be fully informed concerning decisions they will be recommending.

Responsibilities Of A Plan Commissioner

Preparation of the Comprehensive Plan (or its amendment), zoning decisions and development review are significant responsibilities for which the lay commissioner must prepare him or herself. The process for becoming an effective Plan Commissioner is not found in any study course but is typically learned “on the job,” in six easy (or not so easy) lessons.

Lesson #1 - Attendance At Every Meeting

This is probably the most important lesson. The Plan Commission represents a cross section of the community and each member’s viewpoint is important to the decision making process. When a Commissioner is absent, this portion of the community viewpoint may not be fully represented and the other Commissioners are not provided the valuable insights of the Commissioner. Much of the process of planning and zoning is learned “on the job” and faithful attendance allows the Commissioner to “learn the ropes” more quickly.

Lesson #2 - Study The Plan And Ordinance

This is an obvious statement, but one often ignored. Every Commissioner should have an understanding of the major development goals, policies and objectives detailed in the Comprehensive Plan. He/she should have a casual working knowledge of the provisions of the zoning ordinance. Detailed and specific knowledge is not a prerequisite, but the ability to find information within the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance is necessary to evaluate development proposals and make recommendations. It’s obvious some amount of home work is required to gain a casual working knowledge of the documents.

Lesson #3 - Meeting Preparation

It is especially helpful for Commissioners to review those portions of the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance which have a bearing on the issues being discussed at the meeting. Therefore, Commissioners should read the agenda and any supporting documentation to familiarize themselves with the specific issues to be considered prior to the meeting. Some Commissioners actually write out specific questions they want answered prior to the meeting. This personal preparation time makes the meeting proceed smoothly and efficiently and prevents endlessly long drawn-out meetings where little seems to be accomplished.

Lesson #4 - Tour the Community And Visit The Site

Good Plan Commissioners routinely tour the community in order to be familiar with every portion of the community. This helps with the understanding of an applicant’s request and determining the impact of a recommendation made by the Plan Commission.

Even if the Commissioner knows the neighborhood, it’s good practice to visit the site of any issue pending before the Plan Commission. It’s important to personally observe the current conditions of the site and the surrounding land uses. This provides an opportunity to personally evaluate and understand what changes a decision will have on the site and its surroundings. It allows the Commissioner to personally view critical site factors which site plans, aerial photograph and other information, provided by the developer and staff, may not show.

Lesson #5 - Prepare Questions And Personal Opinions

While “home work” is important, Commissioners should not hastily form final opinions and recommendations before the meeting. Testimony from the applicant, staff reports, comments from the public and comments from fellow Commissioners should be taken into account in forming personal opinions and recommendations.

It is important for Commissioners to “speak out” and ask questions to clarify issues. It’s the duty of each Commissioner to express an informed opinion and respond to specific inquires by fellow Commissioners.

Many times the deliberations and public hearing procedures have a way of raising the “blood pressure” of participants. Plan Commissioners must remember to treat these situations with understanding, tact and courtesy. Remember reasonable people can, and do, disagree which leads to a fair and open-minded evaluation of the facts surrounding the issue and the issuance of a decision by the Plan Commission which represents the best situation for the community.

Lesson #6 - Training, Training and More Training

The one certainty in the planning and zoning process is change. As a result, each Commissioner should be committed to a long-ranged program of continual education. There are a number of excellent publications which can be reviewed. Additionally, universities and planning and zoning professional organizations sponsor seminars which can be attended for education and training.

Summary

Illinois planning and zoning laws leave final land use decisions in the hands of local citizens. The quality of the decisions and the professionalism of the procedures used to arrive at the decisions are entirely in the hands of the Plan Commissioners themselves.

The personal investment of time to become fully knowledgeable about the planning and zoning process and local administrative procedures has a direct relationship to the level of personal satisfaction realized by each Commissioner. What is more important, the better Commissioners understand the duties required of them, the better the quality of the decision the Plan Commission, as a whole, will make. Better decisions will directly influence the quality of the community today and into the future. n

____________________

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the Assistant Manager for the Village of Tinley Park. He served more than 25 years as a governmental planning consultant and President of Planning Development Associates.

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, CED, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm engaged by the Villages of Beecher and Sauk Village to serve as their planner. He is the former Executive Director of both the Berrien County and Southwest Michigan Regional Planning Commissions.

2004-01-26T18:08:00.000-06:00

Zoning Litigation Common Sense Rules To Reduce Vulnerability

By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER AICP and CRAIG HULLINGER AICP

Introduction

The days when municipalities were not subject to litigation over disputed planning and zoning decision are long over. Property owners and developers now often seek judicial action when the decision of the plan commission, city council, village board or county commission is not favorable to their cause. Some developers plan from the start to proceed with litigation as part of the approval strategy.
The United States Supreme Court has issued rulings concerning compensation for the regulatory taking of private property in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (1992) and Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994). In these complex cases the court held that compensation for the taking of property rights by regulations may be cause for compensation. As a result, more property owners and developers are using the threat of litigation as a ploy to influence decisions in their favor. They reference the threat of litigation as part of their presentations using it to demand prompt and favorable decisions on zoning matters.
This threat, however, is not idle. Zoning and “takings” litigation is on the rise notes Beth Ruyle, Executive Director of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association. Ruyle administers a self insurance fund covering nineteen local governments in the southern suburbs of Chicago. Ruyle notes, “When we first started our insurance program we didn’t think seriously about zoning and property rights litigation, because none of our members experienced problems with such litigation. Today, we are much more concerned. We have, over the past two years, been involved in several cases. Clearly, the trend for this type of litigation is increasing.”

Six Ingredients For “Bullet Proofing” The Plan and Zoning Process
We recommend that municipalities consider the following six ingredients to avoid litigation:
1. Define The Reasonable Use Of The Subject Property
If you have not done so in the recent past, review and update your comprehensive plan, especially the official statements of goals and policies. This portion of the document expresses the desired future land uses for various portions of the community. These statements will form the legal basis for the zoning ordinance. It also demonstrates that the ordinance was not arbitrary or imposed in violation of planning and zoning laws.
The goals and policies should tie directly back to state enabling legislation for planning and zoning. This direct linkage makes it easy for the court to follow the logic for the development of the municipal goals and objectives.
2. Update The Zoning Ordinance
It is fairly common for communities to adopt a zoning ordinance and believe that it should never be amended. We recommend that periodically (every few years) a comprehensive review of the ordinance be completed by the plan commission. This process further documents the effort of the municipality to “keep current” the zoning map, change outdated language and to modify specific language to further implement the comprehensive plan.
Your legal counsel is an important part of this process. You and your attorney should carefully review the ordinance to ensure that you are following it and that it is current with state law and recent court rulings.
You may also want to engage a professional planner to assist in the update process. This may prove cost effective in avoiding litigation. Professional assistance can provide you information concerning recent rulings and legislation which may require you to modify some of the current ordinance language. The advisor is most often an “outsider” who can discuss problems and make recommendations without the emotional attachment found in local property owners. Neither will the advisor reflect individual preferences.
It is also good practice to update the zoning ordinance when the comprehensive plan is updated, or immediately following the update of the plan. Ideally, the same individuals should prepare the land use plan maps and zoning maps at the same scale and at the same time. The categories of the land use plan should also correlate to the zoning map categories.
3. Organize Your Decision Making Process To Rely On Facts
Many plan commissions pay little attention to the specific facts of the matter at hand. They often do not formally state why they denied or approved the zoning request. They do not make a formal written report.
In making your recommendation or decision on a zoning request, you should carefully consider all relevant information. You should ensure that the rationale for your decisions is documented in writing so that the court will not have to speculate as to why you made your decision. The written “Findings of Fact” should be prepared by your attorney and approved by the commission.
You should, of course, reference the land use plan and map, zoning map, the goals and policies of your plan, and the purposes and intent of your zoning code. Topography, flood plain, wetlands, wet soils and prime farmlands are all relevant information. The distance to utilities is also important.
In Illinois, the courts rely heavily on the standards for review of zoning cases enunciated in the LaSalle v. County of Cook (1957) and Sinclair Pipe Line Company v. Richton Park (1960). The first six standards were established in LaSalle V. Cook, while the last two were developed from the Richton Park case. The court uses these standards to evaluate the legitimacy of your decision. It is, therefore, logical to use these standards when developing your decision. The standards are as follows:
1. The existing uses and zoning of nearby property;
2. The extent to which property values are diminished by the particular zoning restrictions;
3. The extend to which the destruction of plaintiffs’ property values promote the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the public;
4. Relative gain to the public compared to hardship imposed upon the individual property owner;
5. The suitability of the subject property for the zoned purposes;
6. The length of time the property has been vacant as zoned, considered in the context of land development in the vicinity;
7. Community need for the proposed land use;
8. The care with which the community had undertaken to plan its land use development.
A misconception is that the land use of the property changes with the change of owners. In most cases zoning matters are tied to the land and any subsequent owners of the property can continue to use the property within the terms and conditions as approved by the municipality.
We recommend that you develop a non-emotional, factual evaluation process based on the specific requirements and procedures outlined in the zoning ordinance for every rezoning matter. You must include a motion to approve or deny a rezoning request and reiterate the finding of fact, reasons that the request is inconsistent with the approved municipal plan and the specific reasons that the request is not in the best interest of the municipality. You should write this in proper form and make it available for public inspection.
4. Follow Proper Procedure Within Legitimate Authority
The courts have ruled in favor of developers in a large number of recent cases because the municipality did not follow proper procedure or acted beyond the authority given to them by the zoning ordinance. The public hearing must follow precisely the terms of the ordinance. Failure to do so could result in cancellation of the decision and the necessity to repeat the zoning process. In one (non-Illinois) instance, the municipality caused a delay and the judge ruled the municipality, as a result, caused monetary loss to the developer. The court then required the municipality to pay damages.
Acting within the boundary of the zoning ordinance is also important. Issues of appearance, color of the building, and construction materials are not typically regulated under the terms of the zoning ordinance. Nor can you consider the qualifications of the property owner or the developer.
5. Establish Written Record And Document Procedures
From the first meeting with the applicant, written records are important. A short note in the file may be important in the case of litigation. Some communities record or video tape each meeting for their permanent record. Others take written notes on lap top computers which are distributed to all parties. You should request a completed application, with supporting information, for every zoning matter. You should note all conversations and prepare a summary of every meeting. The community then places these into the file. You should also make a record of all phone calls attempted and include this information in the file. The community must also keep a copy of all correspondence and the minutes of each meeting at which it takes action. The community should store these according to the law and until the time limit for litigation expires.
6. Use Consistent Procedures
This last rule is common sense, but is often forgotten. Realize that all prior actions of the municipality are open for inspection and review. Therefore, if you approved an action once, your reasons for that decision become the rationale for someone to ask for a similar consideration. Know the reasons for prior decisions and return to them when granting or denying a request. The community should resolve any questions of doubt before taking action and, if the action is not similar to any previous decision, state the reasons.
Listen to supporting and opposing views on the matter before rendering an opinion. You must act in “good faith” and make the decision which is in the best interest of all the residents of the municipality, not just those attending the meeting.
Do not make your decision prior to the public hearing. This is true for both commissioners and staff. A common problem is staff writing reports and making a specific recommendation before the public hearing. This insults the public. It is both poor planning and poor politics. Staff should make recommendations following the public hearing.

Conclusions
The authors developed the six ingredients for successful zoning as a result of their twenty-five plus years of experience in concert with the review of recent litigation. The authors intend that the six ingredients serve as a guide for plan commissioners and their staff to address the growing problems caused by the threats of litigation against municipal decisions in planning and zoning. Ever present diligence is necessary today to ward off both the effective use of threats of litigation and litigation itself.
Knowledge and consistent administration of the planning and zoning functions in a fair impartial manner remain the best means to “bullet proof” your municipality’s planning and zoning functions.
Likewise, it remains imperative that the municipality retain the services of a qualified attorney. The attorney should be made available to the planning commission or zoning board of appeals for advice on difficult land use decision. No criteria can replace knowledgeable specific legal advise. n
____________________
Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is a governmental planning consultant and President of Planning Development Associates. He recently entered private practice after serving as the Will County Director of Land Use for a second time. He was responsible for the supervision of the planing, zoning, engineering, building, and solid waste functions for the rapidly growing county south of Chicago. Craig presently serves as the planning consultant to the Villages of Tinley Park, Frankfort, Munster, IN, and several other communities.
Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, CED, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planing consulting firm engaged by the Villages of Beecher and Sauk Village to serve as their planner. Chuck has written numerous zoning codes and amendments. His is the former Executive Director of both the Berien County and Southwest Michigan Regional Planning Commissions.

2004-01-26T15:04:00.000-06:00

Is It Time To Update Your Zoning Ordinance?

By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER, AICP and CRAIG HULLINGER, AICP

Introduction

Is it time to update our zoning ordinance? Almost every elected official at some time will be faced with this question. Prompting the need for changes to the code may be expressed by the planning staff, members of the plan commission or zoning board of appeals, other elected or appointed officials, developers, or concerned citizens.

How does an elected official know when it is time to update the zoning ordinance? Illinois law does not specify when a community should update its zoning ordinance. therefore, the decision to update the zoning ordinance is made by the plan commission in conjunction with its legislative body.

Some communities embed an artificial time trigger into the ordinance or other planning document that requires the plan commission and /or zoning board of appeals to review and amend the ordinance at a specific time period. More often than not, this trigger is then forgotten or ignored.

This article proposes a three-part test that gauges the need to update the zoning ordinance. It can be used to identify whether it is time to take action to complete a serious review of the zoning ordinance.

Three Components Of Zoning

Daily administration of the zoning ordinance functionally falls into three duties:

Staff Administration - handing out applications, helping applicants in completing the application, review of applications, conformance decision making, referral of applications matters to the plan commission or zoning board of appeals, scheduling of plan commission and zoning board of appeals actions and insurance of documentary paperwork.

Plan Commission - consideration of applications for map and language rezoning actions and issuance of special land use permits, as specified in the ordinance including special land uses, planned unit development approvals and approval of plat/site plans.

Zoning Board of Appeals - Issuance of variances (or special land use permission, if applicable), interpretation of the administrative actions or decisions of the zoning administrator and interpretation of ordinance language.

To decide when the ordinance is “broken” and in need of an update, an inventory of actions taken in each category and an assessment of what “fixes” are required. This assessment should address the zoning process from distribution of an application through issuance of final documents to the applicant.

A Zoning Validity Test

Below is a sample test instrument that can be used to help determine if it is time for an update. We recommend the test be given to members of the plan commission, zoning board of appeals, administrative staff and elected officials. The tabulated results will reflect a consensus score and show whether it is truly time to update the ordinance.

Zoning Ordinance Validity Survey

Please place a checkmark to indicate the answer that most closely indicates your answers to the following questions.

1. How often is your staff required to help applicants fill out our standard application(s)?

o Never

o Sometimes

o Often

o Frequently

o Very FrequentlySCORE:

2. How often do staff members refer an applicant’s request to the Plan Commission or Zoning Board of Appeals?

o Never

o Sometimes

o Often

o Frequently

o Very Frequently

SCORE:

3. How often are staff persons required to seek an interpretation of the ordinance to clarify a definition or ordinance language provision?

o Never

o Sometimes

o Often

o Frequently

o Very Frequently

SCORE:

4. Of the total number of zoning matters considered last year, what percentage were referred to the zoning board of appeals to obtain a yard dimension variance?

o 0%

o Less than 25%

o 25% to 49%

o 50% to 75%

o More than 75%

SCORE: o

5. Of the total number of zoning matters considered last year, what percentage required the issuance of a special land use permit?

o 0%

o Less than 25%

o 25% to 49%

o 50% to 75%

o More than 75%

SCORE: o

6. Of the total number of zoning matters considered last year, what percentage requested zoning map changes?

o 0%

o Less than 25%

o 25% to 49%

o 50% to 75%

o More than 75%

SCORE: o

7. Of the total number of zoning matters considered last year, what percentage requested language changes?

o 0%

o Less than 25%o

o 25% to 49%

o 50% to 75%

o More than 75%

SCORE: o

8. In the past five years, has an applicant challenged a decision in court?

o yes o no

SCORE: o

9. In the past year, has legal counsel suggested a review be conducted?

o yes o no

SCORE: o

10. Please indicate how many times during the past five years a text change ordinance has been enacted?

o None

o Less than five times

o 5 to 10 times

o 11 to 25 times

o More than 25 times

SCORE: o

Tabulating Results

For questions one through three give the following scores for each answer; 1 for never, 2 for sometimes, 3 for often, four for frequently and 5 for very frequently. For questions five through seven give the following scores for each answer; 1 for 0%, 2 for less than 25%, 3 for 25% to 49%, 4 for 50% to 75% and 5 for more than 75%.

For questions 8 and 9 give the following scores; 5 for yes and 1 for no. For the last question, give 1 for none, 2 for less than five times, 3 for 5 to 10 times, 4 for 11 to 25 times and 5 for more than 25 times.

In our opinion a community should consider updating a zoning ordinance when the total score exceeds 25 points and the following trends have been identified using the results of the test:

•when administrative staff needs to seek interpretations of zoning ordinance language “frequently,”

•when more than 25% of the applications require rezoning or special land use permission,

•when more than 25% of the actions require issuance of a dimensional variance, and

•when more than 50% of the applicants require staff assistance to complete an application.

What To Do And When

If your community tests positive, it is time to discuss an update of the ordinance. Remember, the test serves as a “quick indicator” identifying whether it is time to consider an update. This test should trigger a more in-depth analysis, before expenditure of time and funds for an update of the zoning ordinance is authorized.

If you test positive, we recommend that staff study the matter more fully and begin identification of specific problem areas. Assistance of your legal counsel is advisable at this time, since he/she may also have identified specific issues to be addressed as part of the update process.

We advise seeking outside planning consultant assistance to complete an impartial review and offer recommendations for consideration in the updating process, even if you intend to complete the update process with “in house” personnel. An outside planning consultant can draw upon working experience from a wide range of clients to identify current and future zoning issues that should be addressed as part of the update. The outside consultant also lends credibility to the process, and can absorb some of the blame sure to accrue if you make your ordinance more stringent.

Preparing For The Update

A complete “overhaul” of a zoning ordinance is a time consuming and costly venture. A community is best served when it includes extensive public input. Active participation from the plan commission and zoning boards of appeals is also important. This reduces the preparation time and assures community support during the public hearing and adopting phase.

Conclusion

Updating the zoning ordinance is difficult, but a community should keep its code current. Using the three-part test can help you determine if your code requires an update.
___________________

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan, planning consulting firm engaged by the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village and Homewood to serve as their consulting planner. He is an active writer, having more than 100 articles published on various economic development, land use planning and real estate development topics.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Services. He has served as village manager and a county Director of Land Use and Planning supervising planning, zoning, engineering, and building functions. He is currently working with the Villages of Minooka, Mokena, Tinley Park, Munster, IN, the Eastern Will County Regional Council and as an expert witness.

2004-01-26T14:58:00.000-06:00

Do You Have A Smart Growth Plan?

By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER, AICP, CRAIG HULLINGER, AICP and LARRY McCELLAN

Introduction

Across Illinois, local officials are faced with the questions of balancing economic growth with environmental preservation and maintaining vital communities. Both in the state and throughout our nation, this balancing is central to the concerns for what has been called “Smart Growth.” For many communities, there may be real questions as to how they can determine whether their local government’s Comprehensive Plan is a Smart Growth Plan.

Unfortunately for local officials, smart growth is an elusive concept. Presently there are a variety of definitions of smart growth, and the search for some common understanding ends up often including consideration of related issues like urban sprawl, agriculture preservation, the need for greater open space and environmental preservation concerns. There is not legislation which sets forth a prescription of required contents for a smart growth plan. Moreover, there are no standards of professional planning practice which establish the content of a smart growth plan.

Smart growth means different things to different people. To some, it is nothing more than good planning practices historically used to prepare most of today’s comprehensive plans. Others view smart growth as a platform for advancing special purpose planning objectives, including agriculture land preservation, stopping urban sprawl, demanding the acquisition of more open space, or stopping the construction and expansion of roadways. Within the emerging consensus among these disparate groups, smart growth at minimum includes the balancing of economic growth and environmental preservation with the maintenance of vital communities.

For local officials called upon to determine whether their latest comprehensive plan is a smart growth plan, there is a vast array of literature on smart growth but few, if any any, tools for local users to help in making decisions to address smart growth concerns.

Eastern Will County Regional Council Adopts Smart Growth Strategy

The Eastern Will County Regional Council was organized in 1993/4 to undertake regional planning of interest to local governments including the Villages of Beecher, Peotone, Monee, University Park, Park Forest, Steger, surrounding townships, Will County and northeastern Kankakee County. The organization was precipitated in large part by major questions concerning transportation, environment and tax impacts of the proposed Chicago South Suburban Regional Airport. The council prepared a regional plan which evaluated each local governments plan and then matched, changed and synthesized separate plans so that a regional plan emerged.

In the past year, the council moved forward to evaluate their own work to determine what should be fundamental smart growth principles and whether or not their work had met these principles. After considerable effort, in August the council adopted the first smart growth strategy in Illinois.

With this, council members determined that their Development Policy Plan, which is a composite plan of the member local governments within eastern Will and northern Kankakee counties, demonstrates smart growth. This conclusion was drawn from research identifying specific planning practices that should be included in smart growth plan and how well local government officials felt the regional Development Policy Plan fulfilled these planning principles.

According to Ken Kramer, Chair of the Council and a Park Forest Village Trustee, “The council wanted to test whether our plan truly represented smart growth concepts. We wanted to identify how we can further smart growth principles on a regional and local government basis.

“What we found is that we rated ourselves at about 60% overall based on 70 smart growth planning principles addressing planning capacity, urban form, infrastructure, development review procedures and fiscal policies. We identified 11 topics that we believe must be discussed by local officials if we are to advance smart growth planning in our region.

“Our self-evaluation process established benchmark values that we can use to measure progress toward smart growth in the future.”

Who Determines What Is Smart Growth?

The pressing problem for smart growth in Illinois is who will make the decision whether a comprehensive plan fulfills smart growth principles.

Mayor Dick Benson of the Village of Peotone is a member of Governor Ryan’s Sustainable Growth Task Force. He expresses the concern of many local officials. “The most common model of smart growth relies heavily on a hierarchy of approvals with a state body holding ultimate authority. We in eastern Will County believe the traditional power granted to local governments to determine future land use is the proper means to implement smart growth. Our strategy that established measurement criteria and which we, local elected and appointed officials, used to evaluate our plan is preferable to having an outside consultant, planning agency, or state body determine compliance with smart growth principles.”

Yes, Your Comprehensive Plan Is A Smart Growth Plan!

Based on the process employed by the Eastern Will County Regional Council, it is likely that most comprehensive plans prepared over the past 20 years adhere to a considerable extent, with smart growth planning principles. Yet, still each comprehensive plan should be evaluated in terms of smart growth principles to identify how well the plan addresses each principle. The evaluation will allow local elected and appointed officials to determine if it is necessary to amend the plan to strengthen responses to certain smart growth planning concepts.

How To Conduct The Evaluation

Alicia Hanlon, Administrator of the Eastern Will County Regional Council, believes the system developed by the council can be used by other communities to determine how well their comprehensive plan conforms with smart growth principles. “We directed our consultants to develop a self evaluation system for our local elected officials to use to understand our particular region’s need in relation to smart growth and to identify goals for future action. We asked them to provide a process which would allow self examination in the future to determine whether we made progress in implementing smart growth concepts through the comprehensive planning process of the region and local governments.

“We would encourage other communities to also evaluate their plans to see if they meet smart growth principles.”

______________________

Chuck Eckenstahler, Craig Hullinger and Dr. Larry McClellan served as the consulting team for the Eastern Will County Smart Growth Strategy.

Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm that has consulted with the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village, Glenwood and Homewood as their consulting planner.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Services. He has served as the Will County Director of Land Use and Planning where he supervised planning, zoning, solid waste, engineering, and building functions. He is currently working with the Villages of Minooka, Tinley Park, Mokena, Munster, IN, and the Eastern Will County Regional Council.

Larry McClellan, is the Director of the South Metropolitan Regional Leadership Center located at Governors State University, University Park, IL.

Applications Available For 2001 Governor’s Home Town Awards

Everyday across Illinois, volunteers unconditionally give of their time and efforts to improve the quality of life for the citizens of their communities. Many times, however, those efforts go unrecognized. It’s time to make a change! Illinoisans have an excellent opportunity to recognize the outstanding contributions of their fellow citizens by nominating volunteer efforts for the 20th annual Governor’s Home Town Awards competition.
Administered by DCCA’s Bureau of Community Development, Governor’s Home Town Awards are presented in eight categories, based on community population. Within each population category, organizations may compete in one of four subcategories: General (volunteer projects that make outstanding contributions to the community’s overall quality of life), Youth Involvement (projects selected, planned and conducted by youths and/or that directly benefit youths), and Senior Citizen Involvement (projects selected, planned and conducted by seniors and/or that directly benefit senior citizens).
Applications for awards may be submitted by a variety of community representatives, such as local governments, schools, community organizations, chambers of commerce, community action agencies, area agencies on again, local job training organizations, etc. Applications are reviewed by a team of impartial volunteer judges, who conduct site visits to finalist communities before deciding on winners. The judges also select one project from among the first place winners to receive the coveted Governor’s Cup, a traveling silver trophy which signifies the project deemed most representative of the spirit of Illinois volunteerism. Past Governor’s Cup winners have ranged from a free health clinic, the Agape Care Center, in Whiteside County, to a downstate revitalization project in Fairbury, to the 2000 winner -- the Newton Public Library and Museum renovation.
Both individual category winners and the Governor’s Cup designee are announced during the annual Governor’s Home Town Awards banquet each June in Springfield.
The deadline to apply for the 2001 Governor’s Home Town Awards is February 16, 2001. For more information, or to receive an application guidebook, contact Lou Ann Ladage at DCCA, phone 217-558-2838, e-mail: lladage@commerce.state.il.us. n

Creating Advanced Telecommunications In Your Community: Where To Begin

By TOM ASP and RON HOLCOMB, Consulting Managers

Virchow, Krause & Company, LLP, Madison, WI

Throughout history, the development and continuing success of a region’s well-being has depended upon access to major transportation routes. Economic centers first developed along rivers, then railroads, and later the interstate highway system. Lack of access to the best transportation route can have devastating effects on a community, as exemplified by Route 66. Many businesses and communities along Route 66 disappeared when the interstate system was constructed because their access to a major transportation route vanished. In today’s economy, the continuing success of a community depends upon the ability to provide and obtain services on the “Information Highway.” Access to a vibrant telecommunications infrastructure has become key to future prosperity.

Telecommunication providers are currently focusing their efforts in major metropolitan areas leaving smaller communities low on the priority list. Leaders from small communities may find it necessary to become proactive in implementing affordable telecommunication services for their own and surrounding communities.

2004-01-21T17:02:00.000-06:00

So this is another way of getting out the Planning thoughts of the day. This is a test message.

2004-01-19T18:28:00.000-06:00

Fellow Planers,

We have established this BLOG (Web Log)for us to use to exchange information, ideas, thoughts, and meeting invitations. Please sign in and contribute. Cost, nothing. Value, perhaps something if enough people use it.

http://cityplanning.blogspot.com

No one knows everyone, so post a little bio or resume about yourself. And invite others,

Remember the 7 P's of planning that we were all taught amd that should be on all AICP tests:

Preliminary Prior Planning Prevents Pitiful Poor Performance

And remember to spel planer with two l's

Craig Harlan Hullinger AICP
Home / Office 708 532 8991
Craig@Hullinger.com
www.Craig.Hullinger.com

2004-01-16T13:42:00.000-06:00

“CONGRATULATIONS”
YOUR NOW OUR NEW PLAN COMMISSION CHAIRMAN!
by
Craig Hullinger AICP and Chuck Eckenstahler AICP

It is quite an honor to be elected to be the Chairman of a Planning Commission. It’s also a big responsibility, as members expect the Chair to organize the decision making process, guide the discussion and help make sure the Plan Commission functions according to state laws and local ordinances.

We have all attended poorly organized meetings where aimless discussion lengthens the meeting. These meetings often end with an inappropriate motion being adopted which may not fulfill the legal requirements of the law or local ordinance. Often the Plan Commission “simply gets by.”

By taking a few moments before the meeting, the Chair can organize the meeting providing the opportunity for better discussion and preparation of carefully worded motion fulfilling local ordinance standards. In these situations the Plan Commission has a better defense if someone challenges the action in court.

TEN GUIDELINES FOR A BETTER CHAIRMANSHIP
This article is designed to provide ten guidelines to help the Chair of a Plan Commission organize the meeting and guide discussion leading to adoption of formal motions.

1. Establish a Regular Meeting Date
This sounds elementary, but in practice some communities do not have a regular meeting date and time scheduling meetings “only when necessary.” The benefit of a regular date encourages members to “block-off” dates on their calender thus assuring better attendance. The second and forth Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m., for example, establishes a routine.

A published and posted schedule provides information to residents and applicants increasing the likelihood of more public attendance and earlier application submission by applicants. We support the notion of regular monthly meetings; (of course which can be canceled due to a lack of agenda items) to establish regular meetings.

2. Give Public Notice of the Meeting
Illinois law requires that the public be notified of all Plan Commission meetings. Typically, communities post the schedule of meetings in the front window or door at the Village Hall and may post the agenda before the specific meeting to fulfill this legal requirement.

Specific actions, rezonings, special use permits, variances, etc. require newspaper publication of a special notice, including notification of adjacent property owners (usually within 250 feet of the subject property) and the School District. The Plan Commission must assure the notification requirements are completed to legally consider these matters.

Many communities have established procedures beyond legally required notification requirements to inform residents and encourage participation in the decision process. Some require posting of a sign on the property announcing the matter and date it will be considered, notification of all tenants (and property owners as required by state law and local ordinance), and sometimes notification of property owners (and/or tenants) within a larger area surrounding the property.

The Plan Commission should review legal requirements for public notice found in state law and local ordinances and determine whether they should provide additional public notification. We recommend, at minimum, that communities provide public notice by posting a sign at a conspicuous place on the property to announce the Plan Commission is considering an action involving the parcel of land.

3. Prepare an Agenda
The Chair should prepare (or have staff prepare) an agenda for every meeting. Contents of agendas vary from a simple list of matters to be considered to a brief description of the agenda item with other pertinent information.

We recommend an agenda that provides a brief summary of the matter being considered for each agenda item. The summary should include a description of the action being considered, the address of the property, and actions that the Plan Commission can consider, typically a motion to approve, table or deny the applicants request.

4. Provide Background Information for Agenda Items
Plan Commission members are typically busy people with many responsibilities. We believe it is good policy to prepare background information and provide it to the members before the Plan Commission meeting.

Much of the information given the members can be collected directly from the applicant on a standard application form. The application and plan illustrations and maps can be distributed to the members.

We also recommend that a staff report be prepared and distributed identifying applicable zoning ordinance provisions that the Plan Commissioner should review before making a decision. The report should analyze how the proposal conforms to the ordinance (and other plans etc.), how the request does not comply with the ordinance and what specific actions are required for the Plan Commission to approve the applicants’ request. The report should offer a suggested motion that includes all the items necessary to approve the applicants request. The members can review this before the meeting.

5. Distribute the Agenda and Background Information Before the Meeting
Plan Commission members, in our experience, appreciate time to review an application, view the parcel of land and discuss the matter with surrounding residents before the meeting. This provides them an opportunity to evaluate the request, prepare for public input and eventual discussions leading to a formal decision.

Idealy, the agenda packet should be sent to the members about 5-7 days before the meeting. This allows time for review and a chance for the member to call the Chair or staff with any questions or obtain additional information from the applicant wanted by a member before the Plan Commission meeting.

6. Establish Public Input Procedures
Everyone has heard about the “standing room only” Plan Commission meeting where residents in the audience jump-up and shout their concerns in an uncontrolled fashion. These meetings typically ramble-on and result in a misunderstanding of the process and any action taken by the Plan Commission.

We recommend the Plan Commission establish rules of procedure for the public hearing process and distribute them to all persons who attend a public hearing. We typically read the procedures before starting the public hearing to let everyone know how the public hearing will be conducted, when we will accept public comments and what the Plan Commission decision really means. At this time, the Chair should announce whether the Plan Commission intends to take action after the public hearing or postpone the decision to another meeting.

7. Distribute Minutes of Meetings
Illinois law requires the Plan Commission prepare written minutes of the meeting. Minutes become the permanent record of the discussion and action taken by the Plan Commission. Some communities record the meeting and produce verbatim written minutes of what each person said during the meeting. Other comminutes summerize the discussions and list persons in attendance. Legal counsel should be consulted with respect to the type and style of minutes they recommend be taken.

The minutes should be prepared and distributed to the members for review and approval each month to establish a formal record of each Plan Commission meeting. These minutes should include persons attending, what they discussed, and actions taken. Remember, Plan Commission minutes are public records that must be available for public inspection.

8. Ready Draft “Findings of Fact” Before the Meeting for Review by the Members
Illinois law requires that the Plan Commission provide an explanation for their decisions. The Plan Commission is provided standards to evaluate the applicants request and determine whether they should approve the request. These standards are typically found in the zoning ordinance section dealing with issuance of special use permits, variances, etc. and rezoning.

We recommend the Chair (or staff) as part of the preparation for the meeting, review these standards and analyze the applicants’ request. In our experience, Plan Commission members have found it helpful to have these in draft form for review before the meeting. The members can then review the findings, consider changes they feel necessary and use the draft document for submission of findings into the public record before taking formal action.

9. Plan Commissioner Participation - Encourage Questions and Personal Opinions
Sitting before a crowd of people at a public hearing can be quite intimidating. Some Plan Commissioners, facing a crowd of their fellow residents who oppose the matter under consideration, will not feel comfortable in discussing the matter and offering their views, especially after a hostile public hearing.

It is the responsibility of the Chair to manage meeting procedures and close public input to allow the Plan Commissioners to discuss the matter without interruption. It is the Chair’s job to encourage each member to ask questions and provide comment, if they choose.

We recommend the Chair be aggressive in control of the meeting, using a short recess to “quiet-down” those present and, when necessary, asking for a motion to continue the meeting at a future date, to allow time to review public input and allow the Plan Commissioners to formulate their personal opinions. Plan Commissioners should have time to consider their decision and not be pressured by the tone of public input and the typical call for an immediate decision by the developer.

10. Ready Motions Before the Meeting for Review by the Members
Offering a motion to approve or deny an applicants request is a big responsibility. In a few cases, a simple motion to approve or deny the applicants request will be sufficient. More likely, the motion will be more complex and may include specific recommendations or conditions.

In our experience, drafting a complicated motion following an angry public hearing is difficult. We suggest that a draft motion be prepared before the meeting (both approving and denying the applicants request) so the Plan Commissioners can review them before the meeting. Members can more easily reword the draft “on the fly” to incorporate changes required by public input and Plan Commission discussion.

In some communities, legal counsel prepares the draft motions. In others, draft motions become responsibility of the Plan Commission Chair, a Plan Commissioner, staff, or consulting planner. No matter who prepares the motion, we believe advance review gives the Plan Commissioner the opportunity to study the motion and identify changes etc. that they believe should be made before they make the motion.

SUMMARY
The job of Chair of the Plan Commission comes with duties and responsibilities. The Chair assumes the responsibility to conduct a process assuring public input and informed decision making by the members. Using these ten guidelines will help achieve the goal of good decision making.

About the Authors
Chuck Eckenstahler, AICP, is the owner of Public Consulting Team, a Benton Harbor, Michigan planning consulting firm which has served the Villages of Beecher, Sauk Village Glenwood and Homewood as their consulting planner. He holds two Masters’ Degrees, one from Governors State University and the other from the University of Notre Dame. He is an active writer, having more than 150 articles published on various economic development, land use planning and real estate development topics. He can be contacted at 219-879-1012, or E-mail at pctecken@netnitco.net.

Craig Harlan Hullinger, AICP, is the President of Planning Development Services. He has served as the Will County Director of Land Use and Planning where he supervised planning, zoning, engineering, and building functions. He is currently working with the Villages of Minooka, Tinley Park, Mokena, Munster, IN, the Eastern Will County Regional Council, and as an expert witness. Craig has a BA Degree in Public Administration and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Planning. He can be contacted at 708/ 532- 8991 or E-mail Craig@Hullinger.com.

For more information on Chuck or Craig visit our web page at http://www.Craig.Hullinger.com

2004-01-13T08:03:00.000-06:00

Craig Harlan Hullinger AICP
Planning Development Service
17255 S. 66th Court Tinley Park, Illinois, USA 60477-3501
H/O 708 532 8991 Fax 708 532 8951 Car 708 533 8991
E-Mail Craig@Hullinger.com Web http://www.Craig.Hullinger.com

Planning Development Service is a small, responsive consulting firm specializing in land planning, zoning, environmental, transportation, and economic development. The firm provides well researched studies within budget and time constraints. The following is a partial list of clients:

HONORS

Biography in "Who's Who in the World" 1988
Listed in "Who's Who in Emerging Leaders" 1989
Listed in "Who's Who in Environmental Management" 1992
Chairman, Misericordia Ways and Means Committee 1985
Eleven Letters of Commendation, US Marine Corps Reserve
Marine Corps Reserve 1966 to 99, Colonel, Two tours Vietnam

MEMBERSHIPS

American Institute of Certified Planners
American Planning Association
Lambda Alpha
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Marine Corps Reserve Association
United States Marine Corps Reserve

2004-01-12T18:31:00.000-06:00

2004-01-12T18:30:00.000-06:00

http://craig.hullinger.com/

2004-01-12T10:47:00.000-06:00

2004-01-12T10:08:00.000-06:00

My regular web page is Craig.Hullinger.com

You can email me at Craig@Hullinger.com

2004-01-12T09:27:00.000-06:00

This is the first message to our new City Planning Blog. Your comments and great thoughts will be appreciated.