Winnetka Restarts Talks On Comprehensive Plan

WINNETKA, IL — The Winnetka Village Council and the Plan Commission are holding a joint meeting Tuesday to discuss how to move forward with the city’s Comprehensive Plan, which has been on hold since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.

In Nov. 2019, the Village Council voted to work with the Lakota Group, a Chicago landscape architecture and urban design group, to prepare a comprehensive planning process that will serve as the Village’s “blueprint for growth.” The goal of the project is to work with the community to determine long-term goals and short-term strategies related to the parks, paths, roads, businesses, housing, public safety and more.

The Winnetka Futures 2040 plan will be “re-engaging community members to better understand and address the changing times, including shifting retail environments, transportation innovation, environmental issues/sustainability, shifting population, housing preferences, and changing work and commuting habits,” according to a staff memo.

In August 2021, the Village Council voted to authorize work to restart the Comprehensive Plan. At Tuesday’s meeting, the Council and the Plan Commission will meet for the first time with the Lakota Group to discuss the goals of the plan, the different roles of the Village Council and the Plan Commission, and how to engage the community. The Plan Commission will eventually make a formal recommendation about the Plan, and the Council will vote to adopt it.