NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Use

Press Contact:  Tom Garritano (tgarritano@nipc.org, 312-454-0400)

 

2040 Regional Framework Plan Provides
Tools for Local Officials

 

Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission publishes materials to guide land-use decisions at regional and local levels

 

CHICAGO, September 27, 2005 -- Local elected officials and planners will get an important new set of tools to aid land-use decisions tomorrow when the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) issues its 2040 Regional Framework Plan.  The plan is the culmination of an extensive public-involvement process that included 200 workshops where 4,000 participants expressed their vision of how the region should address growth through the year 2040.
 
NIPC is the official comprehensive planning agency for Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties, which  form the greater Chicago metropolitan area.  Its official forecasts of population, employment and other socio-economic indicators are key inputs to the region's transportation agencies. 
 
The 2040 Plan defines three basic elements -- Centers, Corridors and Green Areas -- to establish a framework for the region's communities to plan more effectively to deal with growth that NIPC forecasts will exceed 10 million residents and 5.5 million jobs by 2030.  The 2000 U.S. Census found just over 8 million residents with about 4.3 million jobs in the region.
 
"Working together, we are able to plan our growth for the future, maximizing the use of our existing infrastructure, while at the same time minimizing future environmental impacts," said Timothy W. Martin, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).  "IDOT is committed to Context-Sensitive Solutions and the coordination of transportation and land use planning.  The 2040 Plan is a blueprint for the future that builds upon these principles."
 
The framework plan has been funded primarily by federal transportation funds through IDOT.  The plan will be central to allocating investments for transportation, economic development, environment, and other forms of land use. 
 
NIPC serves the third largest metropolitan region in the U.S., with six county governments, 272 cities and villages, and numerous school, park, and sanitary districts.  NIPC's "Common Ground" process engaged these communities' residents, elected officials, planners, developers and other stakeholders, who expressed five top priorities for 2040 on behalf of the region:

As the region grows, so does transportation congestion. The 2040 Plan directs new growth, infill and redevelopment into centers and along corridors where transportation facilities already exist. It is less costly to improve current infrastructure than to build entirely new infrastructure in undeveloped areas.  NIPC is calling on communities to consider compact growth by, for example, "mixed use" development that can let residents live nearer to where they work.  This approach helps reduce traffic congestion, relieves pressure to develop new land and preserves natural resources.
 
"Through local zoning, municipalities make 85 percent of all land-use decisions in northeastern Illinois, and the other 15 percent are the counties' decisions," said NIPC commissioner Ed Paesel, who chairs the commission's Planning Committee that led development of the plan.  "They decide which areas will be designated as residential, commercial, or industrial.  Local authorities also influence which natural resources are protected.  By using the 2040 Plan, communities can proactively update their own comprehensive plans, adopting best practices to cooperate with neighboring communities for a better future."
 
The 2040 Plan describes 17 implementation strategies that require close partnership at the regional and local levels.  They include steps toward achieving a balance between jobs and housing, promoting alternative modes of travel such as walking and biking, sustaining the water supply from Lake Michigan and other sources, preserving farmland and other strategies.
 
"NIPC intends to step up its Local Community Assistance to the communities," said Sam Santell, NIPC director of planning.  "We will help them use the 2040 Plan to their benefit, acting as a backstop for local efforts to plan more effectively.  NIPC will develop practical publications that build on the 2040 Plan, providing greater detail about some of the region's most pressing land-use issues.  Together, we want to take a collaborative approach to land use, transportation, economic development and natural resources planning at the local and regional levels."
 
"The 2040 Plan provides a foundation for the new Regional Planning Board (RPB) to build upon in their first five years of work," said Ron Thomas, NIPC executive director.  In August, Governor Blagojevich signed the Regional Planning Act, which creates the RPB to work with NIPC and the Chicago Area Transportation Study to strengthen the integration of land-use and transportation planning. 
 
Many of the 2040 Plan materials are posted on the web at http://www.nipc.org/2040/. On September 28, the framework plan's implementation phase will begin with a launch event at Sears Tower's 99th floor.  (See http://www.nipc.org/events/2040.htm for details.)  Later in the fall, NIPC will be moving to new offices in the landmark high-rise building. 
 

--END--

 
About the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
The Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) was created in 1957 by the Illinois General Assembly as the region’s comprehensive land-use planning agency.  The legislation authorizes NIPC to conduct research for planning -- including official forecasts of population, employment, and other socio-economic indicators -- to advise units of local government on their plans and policies, and to provide general comprehensive plans and policies for use by local governments.  NIPC's role was reaffirmed in 2000 by an Interagency Agreement with the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS), the Regional Transit Authority (RTA), and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The agreement stipulates that NIPC's plans and data are the basis for the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) that guides critical decisions and investments of federal transportation funding.  For more, see http://www.nipc.org.