MINUTES OF THE PLAN COMMISSION
MEETING HELD JANUARY 17, 2008

The Plan Commission of the Village of Palos Park, Cook County, IL met for its regular meeting on Thursday, January 17, 2008.  Chairman Ralph Jones called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.   Answering to roll call were: John Basso, Julie Kay, Paul Petan, Michael Sundermeier and Michael Wall.   

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

John Basso moved, seconded by Michael Sundermeier, to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2007 regular meeting.  Upon voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 

OLD BUSINESS 

1. Consider steps for updating 1999 Comprehensive Plan

Chairman Jones introduced John Houseal, Houseal Lavigne Associates, and stated that the Comprehensive Plan is a long-range planning document that is typically updated every ten years.  Mr. Houseal outlined the procedures he recommends that the Village follow prior to addressing each existing section of the Comprehensive Plan.  He recommended that several outreach meetings be held prior to the next Plan Commission meeting- 1) residents; 2) businesses; 3) Village Council.  These workshop meetings would be facilitated by Mr. Houseal to obtain comments from the public on various concepts addressed in the Comprehensive Plan.  The resident workshop will be held Feb. 12, 2008 at 7 p.m. and the business workshop will be held Feb. 15, 2008 at 9 a.m.  A date for the Council workshop will be set as well, but no public comment will be taken at that meeting.   

Mr. Houseal will also develop a questionnaire to garner input from residents or business owners who are not able to attend the workshops; the questionnaire will be available on-line and in paper form at the Kaptur Center.  He will then compile the data from all meetings and questionnaire responses and provide this to the Plan Commission for consideration when reviewing the Comprehensive Plan.  A public hearing will then be held to receive comment on the updated Comprehensive Plan.  Following the hearing, the Plan Commission will make a recommendation to the Village Council to approve the updated Comprehensive Plan. 

Mr. Houseal provided a list of elements of the Comprehensive Plan: issues and opportunities, land use, transportation, community facilities, telecommunication infrastructure, housing, economic development, natural resources, public participation, parks and open space, vision, goals and objectives, and other areas that need to be considered.  Collectively, these elements should provide a foundation for decision making for matters related to land use, development, regulatory codes and more.  The updated Plan will probably be more implementation-oriented than the 1999 Plan.  The Plan will also include items from the Strategic Plan (2004) and Commercial Areas Master Plan (CAMP 2007) with possible updates of those documents.  Maps will also be integrated with text, rather than placed at the end of the document as appendices, making the Plan more user-friendly. 

Because the Comprehensive Plan is a long-range planning document, it is better for the document not be too detailed. 

Michael Wall asked if the Comprehensive Plan will be integrated with the zoning ordinances?    Mr. Houseal replied that zoning is a tool, not planning.  Zoning codes may change after the Comprehensive Plan is approved.  A Comprehensive Plan is policy and planning; planning drives zoning.  Mr. Wall also asked if the Strategic Plan will be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan?  Mr. Houseal said yes, as most of it addresses implementation, which needs to be updated frequently. 

Paul Petan asked if he can attend any of the workshop meetings?  Mr. Houseal said yes.  He will also provide summaries of all meetings to Plan Commission members.  He encouraged members to look around the community now and make notes about what should be updated in the 1999 Plan; e.g. street vacations, bike trails, tree protection, recreation facilities, museum campus near Cal-Sag Channel. 

Chairman Jones asked why areas that the Village does not want to annex are included in the Comprehensive Plan?  Mr. Houseal said this shows that these areas were considered but not desired for annexation.    

PUBLIC COMMENT  

Maria Rogers 12021 90^th Ave. asked how residents can participate if they don’t have a computer?  Mr. Houseal explained that the workshop meetings are the initial steps of the process; there will be many Plan Commission meetings, a public hearing and a Council meeting that will address the Comprehensive Plan update.  Also, the questionnaire will be available as hard copy at the Kaptur Center, giving everyone ample time and opportunities to participate. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1.    Submittals for the Feb. 21, 2008 Plan Commission meeting must be received by Jan. 31, 2008 

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further discussion, Julie Kay moved, seconded by Paul Petan, to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 p.m.  Upon voice vote, the motion carried unanimously.  

Minutes respectfully submitted by: 

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Kathryn Stanek
Secretary to the Plan Commission