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

NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS PLANNING COMMISSION VOTES
TO APPROVE THE 2040 REGIONAL FRAMEWORK PLAN
Innovative public-involvement process creates a vision for livable communities

CHICAGO, June 29, 2005 -- Members of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) today voted to approve the 2040 Regional Framework Plan, which presents a vision for the future articulated by residents, elected officials, planners, developers and other stakeholders. The plan will be central to allocating investments for transportation, economic development, environment, and other forms of land use in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties.

"This framework plan arrives at a crucial juncture," said NIPC president Mike Smith, "and is intended as a challenge to the region and its communities. It shows the positive outcomes that can result from better, more-collaborative planning at the local and regional levels. And, conversely, it shows the possible negative results of continuing on the old path of communities' regarding one another as competitors rather than partners."

The framework plan defines three basic elements -- Centers, Corridors and Green Areas -- to address goals that emerged as a consensus of nearly 4,000 Common Ground participants at dozens of workshops. The goals are based on five core themes expressed in the 2040 vision statement: "Northeastern Illinois will be a region of livable communities, built on the diversity of its people, known for its healthy natural environment, global competitiveness, and collaborative governance."

Approximately two-thirds of the commission's members hold elected office as, for example, mayors, village presidents and trustees, and county board members. For that reason, the commissioners are positioned to make a difference in the framework plan's implementation phase. Municipalities and counties have local control over zoning and land-use decisions in Illinois, a tradition that the NIPC plan upholds even as it calls for decision makers to plan from a regional perspective.

"For too long, in too many people's minds, land development and community growth were viewed as a zero-sum game," said NIPC executive director Ron Thomas. "That mindset can cause unhealthy competition in which municipalities seek rapid growth simply to defend themselves against neighbors' expansion. That puts extreme stress on infrastructure for transportation and water treatment, to name just two examples. But with strategies for collaborative planning that cross traditional boundaries, the 2040 framework plan shows why it's not necessary for communities to suffer negative consequences when neighboring towns thrive."

NIPC researchers produce the region's official population growth forecasts, which project a 25-percent increase of more than 2 million additional residents by 2030. If current development trends continue, according to the framework plan, over 337,000 additional acres would be developed in the next 30 years -- an area equal in size to Kane County. The plan calls on communities to consider compact growth by, for example, redeveloping land and encouraging "mixed use" development that lets residents live nearer to where they work.

The 2040 Regional Framework Plan is a product of the NIPC Planning Committee chaired by commissioner Ed Paesel. NIPC director of planning Sam Santell and acting director of research and community assistance Hubert Morgan had primary staff responsibility. Common Ground staff used interactive "Paint the Region" software developed by NIPC to let workshop participants create multi-layered maps that capture their vision of livable communities that are walkable, safe, and easy to traverse, with preserved natural resources.

The framework plan and Common Ground program have been funded primarily by federal transportation funds through the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). In deciding where to direct transportation resources, IDOT and the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS) rely on NIPC for socio-economic data and expertise in comprehensive land-use planning.

"The framework plan presents a vision that the region's communities can strive toward together," said IDOT Urban Program Planning bureau chief Randy Blankenhorn. "To build on Common Ground's extensive public-involvement process, NIPC commissioners and staff have worked in close partnership with CATS to define 2040 corridors that provide a wide range of land uses and transportation choices to connect centers, while preserving natural resources."

In May, House Bill 3121 passed unanimously in the Illinois General Assembly, calling for creation of a new Regional Planning Board that will work with NIPC and CATS to strengthen the integration of land-use and transportation planning. The bill now awaits Governor Blagojevich's signature to become law.

On September 28, the framework plan's implementation phase will begin with a launch event at Sears Tower's 99th floor. Later in the fall, NIPC will be moving to new offices in the landmark high-rise building.

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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.