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NIPC is devoted to achieving regional excellence through plans, policies
and programs on land use, economic and community development, and
transportation. Staff members of the NIPC
Planning Group develop policy guidance and resources
to generate dialogue and assist local governments in planning their future
in a regionally collaborative manner.
As the region’s comprehensive land use planning agency, NIPC plays a
unique and essential role in convening and advising communities on
decisions and actions that have impacts beyond any one jurisdiction. The
challenges of traffic congestion, air and water quality, economic
development and redevelopment, and community disparities are best
addressed through regional cooperation and planning. NIPC staff activities
include planning outreach and assistance, community visioning, corridor
council facilitation and support, and using the latest technology to
connect citizens, legislators, and community groups in the vital task of
envisioning the future, reaching agreements and committing to action.
The following menu of links
provides details about some of the
Planning Group's activities:
1.
The 2040 Regional Framework Plan
2. Planning Outreach
3. Growth Strategy Series: Building a Regional
Framework
4. Regional Policy Plans
5. Transportation Planning
1. The 2040
Regional Framework Plan
The 2040 Regional Framework Plan is a guide for local and
regional land use, transportation and environmental planning. Published in
Fall 2005, the 2040 Plan is a product of NIPC’s
community-based Common Ground
planning process and represents the goals and vision of thousands of
diverse stakeholders. NIPC will continue to use this process to sustain
the collaboration that will help this region achieve the livable, just,
and economically vibrant region envisioned by the 2040 Plan. The Common
Ground process will continue to be used in the development of plans and
forecasts.
The 2040 Plan calls for focusing the region’s
redevelopment, growth and public investment over the next 35 years in
metropolitan, community and town centers, creating or enhancing
multi-modal transportation options within and between the centers, and
protecting valued green areas from development. Much of the Planning
Group’s activities will center around implementation of the 2040 Regional Framework Plan.
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2.
Planning
Outreach
A large part of the Planning Group’s activities involve
planning outreach, including Community Visioning, assistance to local
governments (comprehensive plan review, public hearings, collaboration and
facilitation), and public participation. For additional information on these and other
activities and services, please contact the NIPC
Planning Group staff for
additional information.
2.1 Community Visioning
The Planning Group advises and collaborates with communities and
intercommunity councils throughout the region to identify the best ways to
generate redevelopment and accommodate future growth. This frequently
takes the form of community visioning which involves organizing and
facilitating local workshops in which residents can assess their
community’s resources, articulate their hopes for the future, and consider
alternative ways of getting there. The workshops make use of the tools
developed in Common Ground and the forecasting process, including
facilitated small group deliberation, keypad polling, computer-aided
visualization and analysis of alternative land use patterns. These
techniques are applicable in a range of situations.
For example, NIPC helped
the Village of Homer Glen to develop a “green vision” to protect its high
quality open space and natural resources in the face of strong growth
pressures. NIPC planners directed workshops to facilitate groups of
citizens as they identified and prioritized key issues facing the village.
These include:
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Proposing means for the protection and improvement of the environment
including the quality of land, air and water
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Developing strategies to preserve, protect and encourage wildlife and
its natural habitats
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Proposing methods of defining and preserving open space in both public
and private ownership
Measures that workshop
participants considered included policies and practices to protect and
maintain agricultural heritage in a viable rural community, programs to
preserve historic sites, and guidelines and ordinances for subdivision,
residential and commercial development that are consistent with the goals
of the village's mission statement and core values.
Another example is NIPC’s
work with the historic Village of Richmond. The community wanted to
preserve its rural, small village character while responding to extensive
new residential development and the possibility of a major highway
bypass. Participants in local workshops identified important priorities
including the preservation of a vibrant main street, protection of
greenways and open space, alternative transportation modes, and farmland
preservation.
2.2 Corridor Planning
NIPC planning staff continues to work with corridor planning councils
and intergovernmental agreements throughout the region. Each council has
been formed around a major existing or proposed transportation facility.
The purpose of the councils has been to capitalize on the accessibility
provided by existing facilities or to prepare for the economic and
environmental impacts of new transportation projects. Councils have
developed joint land use plans for expressway corridors, agreed on
development standards for incorporation in local ordinances, prepared
environmental impact assessments, and provided forums for local
interaction with state transportation agencies. The council model has
also been used to coordinate local planning and action in stream corridors
or watersheds.
2.3 Assistance to Local
Governments
In addition to the visioning described above, NIPC staff offers to
local governments expert technical advice and assistance on planning
issues in the form of comprehensive plan review, regional collaboration
and facilitation, and public participation.
Comprehensive Plan
Review
NIPC staff will review comprehensive plans for best planning practices
and consistency with regional plans, and offer suggestions for refinement
and revisions.
Regional Collaboration and Facilitation
The NIPC Planning Group
staff are trained facilitators and will use their skills and experience to
assist local governments by conducting workshops, roundtables and
seminars. NIPC staff has also, since its inception, conducted public
hearings prior to adoption by the Commission for plans such as the
Regional Greenways Plan and the Strategic Plan for Water Resource
Management. Staff will extend their expertise to run public hearings for
local and sub-regional entities.
Public Participation
NIPC has always involved the public in plans and programs, but never
to the greatest extent as with the 2040 Regional Framework Plan. That
process engaged thousands of local officials, planners, citizens and other
stakeholders in an intensive 3 year process of workshops and meetings,
using interactive, web-driven Geographic Information System tools and
keypad polling. The NIPC Planning Group will provide this service to local
governments.
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3. Growth
Strategy Series: Building a Regional Framework
NIPC planning staff produced nine reports in the
series called “Building a Regional Framework.” These reports are designed
to educate the public about particular issues and spark greater public
input into the regional planning process. They describe the elements and
challenges of “smart growth,” e.g., better ways to grow that boost the
economy, protect the environment, and enhance community vitality both
locally and regionally.
For example, the Transit-Oriented Development report
provides information on the advantages of clustering a mix of housing and
commercial activities around public transportation stations. The areas
surrounding many transit stations are today significantly underused and
are frequently devoid of any development other than surface parking. These
areas represent an opportunity for retail and other commercial development
and could accommodate a significant portion of the region’s estimated
growth within walking distance of transit. The results can be increased
transit ridership, reduced dependence on the automobiles, and development
of a reliable market base for local businesses.
Each report in the series is available below in PDF
format, or you may contact NIPC at 312-454-0400 for a printed copy:
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4.
Regional Policy
Plans
In addition to its comprehensive planning, NIPC has
adopted advisory regional policy plans in a number of areas relating to
land use, including open space and recreation. Each is intended to
provide guidance for state and local action and was prepared jointly with
public and private stakeholders and experts.
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The
Regional Water Trails Plan is a set of recommendations that covers a
system of nearly 500 miles of water trails for canoeing and kayaking on
the region’s waterways. The plan was prepared by a partnership of water
trail users, planners, recreation providers, and funding agencies, lead
by NIPC, Openlands Project, and the Illinois Paddling Council. The
trail system includes portions of Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, the
Des Plaines River, Salt Creek, the Du Page River, the Fox River,
Nippersink Creek, the Kishwaukee River, the Kankakee River, and the
Calumet Area waterways. The plan recommends designation of over 170
established and proposed access and portage sites. The access sites,
approximately 3 to 5 miles apart, are almost all on land owned by public
agencies. Use of these access points would be enhanced through
development of coordinated signage and consistent information about the
water trails such as distance to the next access site, necessary
portages, and local rules and conditions.
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The
original Northeastern Illinois Regional Greenways Plan created in 1992
was the first large-scale metropolitan greenway plan in the United
States. It consisted of a 1600-mile network of existing and proposed
linear open spaces including the belts of existing open space along the
region’s major rivers, complex natural areas such as the Midewin
National Tallgrass Prairie, natural corridors along smaller streams
which may be protected in private ownership, and recreational trails
along highway and abandoned railroad rights-of-way.
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The
Northeastern Illinois Regional Greenways and Trails Implementation
Program updated the 1992 Plan, doubling the trail miles from 1000 to
2000 and adding 2000 miles of proposed stream greenways. It was
sponsored by the Illinois Prairie Trail Authority, a coalition of forest
preserve and conservation districts in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and
Will Counties, with additional support and participation by Cook County.
NIPC developed the plan jointly with Openlands Project and the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources.
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The
Greenway Master Plan for Salt Creek was produced by NIPC as a result of
its extensive work with greenways and trails. NIPC was asked by the
DuPage County Forest Preserve District to prepare the Plan, which
considers and makes recommendations for open space, water quality,
recreation, stormwater management, habitat and wetlands. The Plan was
created in conjunction with the County of DuPage and Openlands Project.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources supported this project with
funding for planning and implementation.
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5.
Transportation
Planning
Through
its planning and policies, NIPC has established a strong tie between land
use and transportation. NIPC’s forecasts of population, employment and
other demographics form the basis of transportation planning for the
region. NIPC is currently undertaking a new forecast process that will
include an alternative analysis in which the land-use concepts of centers,
corridors and green areas -- as set forth by the 2040 Regional Framework
Plan -- will be integrated with the region’s transportation plan.
Further, NIPC recommends land-use and environmental
policies for the RTP and evaluates impacts of proposed transportation
projects. These roles were reaffirmed and strengthened in 2000 by an
Interagency Agreement with the Chicago Area Transportation Study (CATS),
the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), and the Illinois Department
of Transportation (IDOT).
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