Public Meeting on September 15 for Elmwood Park Community Planning Project

The Village of Elmwood Park is updating its comprehensive plan that will guide its land use and other decisions for decades to come.  As part of that effort, the Village invites local residents, business owners, community leaders, and other stakeholders to attend a special community planning event.

To be held on Thursday, September 15, 2011, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Elmwood Park Recreation Center Gym, 2 Conti Parkway, Elmwood Park, Illinois, 60707, the session will feature a brainstorming exercise in which participants can state their preferences regarding issues they feel should be addressed in planning for the future of Elmwood Park.  There will be Spanish and Polish translation services available at the meeting.

The Elmwood Park comprehensive plan will address topics such as land use development, infrastructure improvements, and strategies for supporting and improving key commercial areas in the Village.  A grant to the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is enabling CMAP staff to provide technical assistance to Elmwood Park, including help with public participation in the plan’s development. 

September 15 event lets residents have their say

To begin, the Village asks residents to answer the question: What issues do you think should be addressed in planning for the future of Elmwood Park? The September 15 meeting is a chance for people to have their voices heard.  At this initial public meeting, residents can weigh in about issues they think the plan should address. Are there housing or shopping issues in the community? How about transportation options? What steps can help preserve the character of Elmwood Park?

For more information and to RSVP to this public event, please contact Jessica Simoncelli, Community Outreach Specialist at CMAP (jsimoncelli@cmap.illinois.gov or 312.386.8631).  Event registration begins at 6:00 p.m. 

In the project’s first phase, CMAP is working with the village to conduct a detailed analysis of existing conditions to verify current land uses, to study community facilities, and to obtain initial public input regarding the issues and opportunities in the Village.  The second phase will be for the community to create a shared vision with specific goals and recommendations to help achieve the Elmwood Park vision.  In the third phase, CMAP will assist in developing an implementation strategy that the Village, residents, and others will use to put the plan’s recommendations into action.

HUD and CMAP build capacity for local planning

Especially in challenging economic times, many communities have difficulty allocating enough resources to plan as proactively as they would prefer.  At the same time, proactive planning is necessary for economic prosperity and protecting community assets.  The HUD-funded effort is helping fill this gap by making staff resources and grants available to assist with local planning projects that help to implement GO TO 2040, the first comprehensive plan for metropolitan Chicago in more than 100 years. 

The HUD grant to CMAP was announced one day after leaders of the seven-county region, on October 13, 2010, unanimously adopted GO TO 2040.  The region’s plan establishes coordinated strategies that help the region’s 284 communities address transportation, housing, economic development, open space, the environment, and other quality-of-life issues.  See www.cmap.illinois.gov for more information. 

With the three-year $4.25 million HUD award (http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/press-release-10-14-10), CMAP has begun a new Local Technical Assistance program sponsored by HUD as part of the federal interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities. CMAP issued a call for projects in early 2011, prompting more than 220 proposals from over 130 municipalities, counties, interjurisdictional groups, and nongovernmental organizations – an indication of significant unmet demand for local planning capacity. 

In March, CMAP began partnering with the first wave of 62 local governments, nonprofits, and intergovernmental organizations selected for assistance.  Like the Elmwood Park effort, these projects address local issues at the intersection of transportation, land use, and housing, including the natural environment, economic growth, and community development.  Download a full list of projects at http://goo.gl/1nYBM. 

CMAP is the official regional planning organization for the northeastern Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will. 

Media contact:  Justine Reisinger, 312-386-8802 or jreisinger@cmap.illinois.gov

Program contact:  Pete Saunders, 312-386-8654 or psaunders@cmap.illinois.gov