A Decision-Making Workbook for Local Officials, Developers, and Community Leaders

Douglas R. Porter, Principal Author

The links below are PDF files and require the free Adobe Reader, available via the following link: Adobe Reader download.

Introduction (76 kb)

• Clarifying Concepts and Untangling Terminology
• Guiding Principles
• Northeastern Illinois Housing Endorsements Criteria
• Checklist for Sensible Growth
• Ten Things You'll Always Hear at Public Hearings

Part I: Questions and Actions (1 mb)

• Comprehensive Plans: Adopting and Updating (486 kb)
• Annexations (162 kb)
• Zoning: Rezoning, Zoning Amendments, and Variances (161 kb)
• Work Sheet 1: Facts About Rezoning (30 kb)
• Work Sheet 2: Effects of Rezoning on Existing Community Facilities (22 kb)
• Subdivisions (247 kb)
• Work Sheet 3: Effects on Public Facilities (23 kb)
• Site Plans (42 kb)

Part II: Basic Information and Helpful Guidance (537 kb)

• Best Development Practices
• Work Sheet 4: Community Goals for Development
• Illinois Statutes
  —Comprehensive Plans
  —Zoning Ordinances
  —Subdivision Regulations
  —Annexation Agreements
  

Download the entire Sensible Tools For Healthy Communities workbook. (1.6 mb)

Property owners and developers in the Chicago region frequently ask public officials to amend or revise zoning or subdivision regulations to allow types of development that are prohibited according to the applicable law. Property owners also may ask local government officials, such as planning commissioners and village council members, to consider annexation of properties being proposed for development. Communities must assess these requests with the best information available and make the right decision based on the overall merits of the request.

Many such proposals are difficult to assess. Some may raise questions about the effects of a proposed project on adjacent neighborhoods and the community at large. Others may pose broader issues about the direction and quality of future community growth. Developer requests may require close scrutiny and significant changes to conform to community goals and development policies. Communities that have adopted comprehensive plans already have some guidance about evaluating proposals, but may have questions regarding consistency with those plans.

Local officials know how important these decisions can be for the future livability of their community. They also know that constituents and voters expect them to make informed and sensible decisions. This Workbook is intended to help local government officials decide how to apply and/or amend rules and regulations that affect proposed development projects. It can help to educate developers and builders about community expectations for development. While it is unlikely that any particular proposal will meet every goal of a community, local leaders need tools to balance these needs and determine the best possible project in the context of the real estate market, state and federal regulations, and short and long term needs. It may be that a proposed project conflicts with a community’s comprehensive plan. Should the project be automatically discarded, or should the community think more broadly about whether the existing plan and zoning meet sensible growth goals?

The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Campaign for Sensible Growth, and Metropolitan Planning Council cooperated to produce the Workbook. Each of the organizations has a stake in promoting sensible growth through planning and development that enhance the quality of life enjoyed by all residents of northeastern Illinois. As a result of this unusual collaborative effort, individual members of the respective sponsors of this document may not agree with every statement in it. Just as a municipality must weigh a proposed development based on its overall merits, these organizations support the document as a whole.

Building on Sensible Growth Principles
In preparing the Workbook, the three organizations aimed to provide definition to the principles spelled out on page v. These principles, such as increasing choices of housing and how people get to work; providing options for travel around the region;and protecting water, land, air, and species resources provide broad guidelines for evaluating how proposed projects can contribute to quality community growth. Building on these principles, the Workbook is organized to help local officials, developers, and community leaders:

1. Plan for the community’s future economic, environmental, and social viability by incorporating the vision and goals of the community, in advance of development controversy;

2. Identify the extent to which the project would achieve the community’s development goals and standards;

3. Quickly understand key pros and cons of a proposal in the short time-frame of typical public hearings;

4. Thoughtfully examine the project benefits claimed by applicants;

5. Carefully consider costs or impacts, including any that might be raised by the project’s opponents; and

6. Identify changes that could improve the likelihood of project approval and desired community impact.

Discussion generated by this information can shed light on the potential contributions that a proposed project might make to the quality of life in communities as they grow and change.

Asking the Right Questions. The Workbook’s subjects and format are based on the concept that asking the right questions is necessary to obtaining the right answers. The Workbook poses a series of questions to help local officials evaluate requests for five common types of events that usually require public hearings, including adopting or revising:
   • Local comprehensive plans;
   • Rezoning or zoning amendments;
   • Annexation of development sites;
   • Approval of subdivision plans; and
   • Approval of specific site plans.

The information generated by these questions will help local planning commissioners, village boards, city council members, and zoning commissioners to reach conclusions about the sensibility of the actions requested. At the same time, it is hoped that the questions will alert developers, builders and their professional consultants in advance to the kinds of concerns that local officials and civic leaders will have about their proposals.

Part I is a list of questions for each of the five major types of public decisions about development. The questions are suggested ways to help local officials evaluate proposed projects. Follow-up questions and actions are also included, plus space to add helpful information about your own community’s policies and regulations.

Part II presents helpful guidance for ways to improve projects to meet the community’s objectives for development and better achieve Sensible Growth outcomes.

Use the Workbook this way: Before and/or during a public hearing or other event concerning proposed development:

1. Review the initial checklist of Sensible Growth principles and criteria (page v) to quickly assess how consistent a requested action may be;

2. Turn to the section about the specific type of proposal (Annexations, page 11; Zoning: Rezoning, Zoning Amendments, and Variances, page 17; Subdivisions, page 27; and Site Plans, page 39) and refer to questions relating to typical project issues;

3. Check the most important topics to raise for discussion of the proposal;

4. Refresh your memory about your community’s comprehensive plan goals for future development; and

5. Refer to Part II to find brief descriptions of options and best practices for your consideration in reviewing the proposed project.

The questions do not require complicated answers from applicants. They may require cross-referencing the various sections, for example, when a project needs rezoning and subdivision approval while seeking annexation. But the questions are intended to remind the user about the concerns and issues often raised by proposed developments. And they might provide some ideas about how the proposed action might help or hinder a community as it attempts to accommodate growth and change.

The sponsoring organizations would like to make the Workbook as useful as possible. In order to get full value from the Workbook, add information about your local plan, zoning ordinance, and other regulations. Feel free to customize it to serve your needs. Add and subtract items, provide additional information, re-phrase questions — all are encouraged. Consider the Workbook to be yours to use in whatever way is most beneficial.

MPC is deeply grateful to the following for their funding of the Campaign for Sensible Growth:

Grand Victoria Foundation
The Joyce Foundation
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
The Allstate Foundation
Bank One
Bank of America

Thanks also to the following for their funding of MPC's Regional Action Agenda, of which the Campaign for Sensible Growth is a component:

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The Chicago Community Trust
McCormick Tribune Foundation
Aon Corporation