New sustainable development workbook helps leaders make informed decisions on development
(
Aurora
)….Simply utter the
word “development,” and it’s sure to raise
someone’s
hackles. For a
variety of reasons – legal, moral, financial – people routinely meet development
proposals for their own community with sidelong glances, confused frowns or
angry shouts. What’s more, most decisions about development are made by
volunteers, elected and appointed public officials who serve on plan and zoning
commissions, village boards and city councils – and most of whom do not have
backgrounds in community planning.
While
healthy skepticism and uncertainty are understandable reactions to change,
development is a fact of life that is increasingly impossible to ignore even for
once-sleepy towns in northeastern
Illinois
’ six-county region. The good news is
that communities can approach development proposals with confidence if they make
decisions in the context of long-term, big-picture plans based on solid sensible
growth techniques. That’s why the Campaign for Sensible Growth, Metropolitan
Mayors Caucus, and Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), along with principal
author Douglas R. Porter, cooperated to produce
Sensible Tools for Healthy
Communities: A Decision-Making Workbook for Local Officials, Developers, and
Community Leaders
.
On Wednesday, Aug. 4, at HomeTown Aurora in Aurora , Ill. , the partners took
their commitment to sensible growth in the region one step further by co-hosting
a workshop designed to help public officials and developers learn to make the
most of the workbook. Indeed, the Mayors Caucus originated the idea for a
workbook to offer local leaders guidance in applying its groundbreaking Housing
Endorsement Criteria, created in 2002 to help communities attract, identify and
support housing that is valuable – housing that is well managed and well
designed, near jobs and public transit, and affordable to the local workforce.
“The
passage of the Housing Endorsement Criteria was considered a victory of local
governments by helping officials take a stronger hand in controlling the
development process and the types of housing they welcome into their
communities,” said Susan Klinkhamer, mayor of the City of St. Charles and a
member of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Housing Task Force, who spoke at the
event. “The
Sensible Tools
workbook takes that victory steps further,
providing community leaders with the decision-making tools they need to improve
quality of life for their residents.”
The
workbook evolved through the Mayors Caucus’ partnership with the Campaign and
MPC.
Sensible Tools
is a detailed guide that helps users debate the
merits of and reach resolutions on individual development proposals, within the
context of the Housing Endorsement Criteria and other sustainable development
concepts.
“For
the past year, the
Village
of
Riverdale
has been working with the
Campaign for Sensible
Growth
and Urban Land Institute Chicago to revitalize and redevelop a privately owned
housing project in our town,” said Zenovia Evans, mayor of the
Village
of
Riverdale
and co-chair of the Metropolitan
Mayors Caucus Housing Task Force, who spoke at the event. “While we didn’t use
this workbook because it wasn’t out yet, we used the ideas in it. And we endorse
them as the Mayors Caucus endorsed the Housing Criteria.”
The
workbook’s partners anticipate similar reactions from communities throughout the
region.
“We
want communities and developers to reach for this book when they’re working
through housing and development challenges, “ said MarySue Barrett, president of
MPC and co-chair of the Campaign for Sensible Growth, who spoke at the event.
“It’s an accessible, hands-on product based on best practices for sustainable
development, such as the Housing Endorsement Criteria and Smart Growth
principles.”
The
Aug. 4 event kicked off with a presentation and luncheon, followed by the
workshop to explain the nuts and bolts of using the book. During the workshop,
each of five tables of participants played a different part – community members,
plan commission, village board or city council, developers, and media – in a
role-playing game that illustrated how the workbook would help communities solve
real-life development dilemmas. Mark Angelini, vice president of The Shaw
Company, and Sam Santell, director of planning in
Kane
County
, have experienced their fair share
of development debates. The pair, who co-chair the Campaign for Sensible Growth
Technical Advisors Group, co-led the development game and agreed that the game’s
participants did a fine job portraying players at a public hearing, giving the
group an accurate lesson in how to use the workbook.
“I work in
Kane
County
, where every day, growth pressures
force public officials to grapple with development options and proposals,” said
Santell. “
Sensible Tools for Healthy Communities
is an asset for all
communities, especially for those that are growing quickly. But as the game
illustrated, there are common phrases and situations that come up at every
public hearing about development proposals, no matter where you live. The
workbook offers suggestions for dealing with those issues and much more.”
As
the development game progressed, Santell and Angelini pointed out how the group
might tap the workbook’s three sections for guidance. The introduction presents
sensible growth principles and techniques in skimmable blurbs, allowing users to
evaluate whether a proposed project makes good sense. Part 1 is a series of
questions to help local officials evaluate requests for five types of events
that typically trigger public hearings: adopting or revising local comprehensive
plans; rezoning or zoning amendments; annexation of development sites; approval
of subdivision plans; and approval of specific site plans. Part 2 offers helpful
guidance for improving projects so that they meet community objectives for
development and better achieve sensible growth outcomes.
Afterward,
everyone in attendance agreed that the book can and should be used by all
communities, no matter their stage of development.
The
event also featured Bill Wiet, director of planning for the City of
Aurora
; Perry Bigelow,
president
of Bigelow Homes and developer of HomeTown Aurora; and Ronald Thomas, executive
director of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission and co-chair of the
Campaign for Sensible Growth, all of whom offered their own insights drawn from
the front lines of regional development debates.
Sensible Tools for
Healthy Communities: A Decision-Making Workbook for Local Officials, Developers,
and Community Leaders
, is available for download on the Campaign for Sensible
Growth’s Web site at www.growingsensibly.org /sensibletools.
The
workbook was funded by: Grand Victoria Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, Gaylord
and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Allstate Foundation, Bank One, and Bank of
America. MPC undertook work on this project as part of its Regional Action
Agenda, of which the Campaign for Sensible Growth is a component. Funders
include The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Chicago Community
Trust, McCormick Tribune Foundation, and Aon Corporation.
The
Campaign for Sensible Growth is an action-oriented coalition of government,
civic, and business leaders in northeastern Illinois’ six counties (Cook,
DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will) working to promote economic development
while preserving open space, minimizing the need for costly new infrastructure
and improving the livability of our communities.
The
Metropolitan Mayors Caucus provides a forum through which the chief elected
officials of the region cooperatively develop consensus and act on common public
policy issues and multi-jurisdictional challenges. With a foundation of
collaboration and consensus-based decision making, it serves a number of
functions for its partner organizations and local governments.
Founded in 1934, MPC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group of
business and civic leaders committed to serving the public interest through the
promotion and implementation of sensible planning and development policies
necessary for a world-class
Chicago
region. MPC conducts policy analysis,
outreach and advocacy in partnership with public officials and community leaders
to improve equity of opportunity and quality of life throughout the metropolitan
Chicago
.
To obtain a printed copy of the workbook, contact Katrina Croswell at
312-863-6016. If you have questions about the workbook, contact Ellen Shubart,
312-863-6009, or Scott Goldstein, 312-863-6003.