Comp Plan Steering Committee Minutes 2016 01-28-16Page 1 of 3
APPROVED 6/16/16
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
COMP PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
Thursday, January 28, 2016 7:00pm
Yorkville City Hall, Conference Room
800 Game Farm Road
Welcome
The meeting was called to order by Tom Kozlowicz at 7:03pm.
Roll Call
Roll call was taken and a quorum established.
Mike Mann-present, Randy Harker-present, Anthony Hansen-present, Erin-Mikal Dickens-present,
Russ Walter-present, Bob Delo-present, Deb Horaz-present, Joel Frieders-present,
Tom Kozlowicz-present
City Officials
Krysti Barksdale-Noble, Community Development Director
Chris Heinen, City Planner
Lynn Dubajic, City Consultant
Other Guests
Justin Weidl, Lakota Group
Jim Considine, T.Y. Lin International
Previous Meeting Minutes September 29, 2015
The minutes were approved as read on a motion by Delo and second by Frieders. Voice vote approval.
Citizen Comments None
New Business
The newly appointed members, Mr. Harker and Mr. Mann, were introduced and gave brief comments
on their backgrounds. Mr. Kozlowicz thanked them for joining the committee.
Mr. Weidl began the discussion for the fifth meeting of the committee. He presented the first draft of
the Comp Plan and asked everyone to examine the document in the next two weeks. It is a compilation
of feedback, analysis, site visits and research, etc.
The first 3 sections of the document are a “state of the City” report and section 4 is the actual beginning
of the plan. Mr. Weidl began the discussions with Section 4.
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Section 4 Community Vision and Land Use Strategy
Review of the overall goals starting from page 76.
1. Grow tax base
2. Revitalize downtown
3. Enhance well-defined corridors
4. Growth of neighborhoods and subdivisions
5. Meet design standards for public and private development
6. Enhance park and open space networks
7. Achieve complete transportation network
8. Address growth management
Mr. Weidl focused on land use and reviewed the various categories from a color-coded map and land
use matrix chart.
Section 5 “Prosperous City”
Twelve strategies were given to develop a successful downtown, shopping and commercial areas, some
being near-term and some long-range. He asked for input on the priorities for these strategies and said
it must be determined how aggressive the City should be in the downtown growth and whether growth
should be spearheaded by the City or private developers.
Different areas of the City were then reviewed. A priority is a grocery store at the south end of town as
well as additional rooftops. The vacant commercial area in Countryside was also discussed. Raging
Waves is an asset and commercial development is suggested here to encourage more spending.
Commercial uses near the proposed Metra station would also be assets. Mr. Weidl talked about the
industrial areas including Yorkville Business Center, Fox Industrial Park, Faxon Road area and
Menards.
Section 6 Yorkville Neighborhoods
The core of this section is the neighborhoods, some of which need to be finished. Mr. Weidl said the
older residential areas should be branded, marketed and preserved. Ultimately a national historic
designation could be pursued. Capital improvements are also needed in the nearby downtown area.
Section 7 Community Systems and Infrastructure
Mr. Considine addressed this section and said overall the City and County are well-served with the
roadways. There are many trails, but not all are connected and many were dependent on development
to finish. He said IDOT is now doing shared use paths. He suggested using “complete streets” and
connecting the trails by using roadways for bikes and walking.
He also addressed the lack of downtown parking. Public parking is needed as well as rewriting
downtown parking regulations.
In another matter, Mr. Considine talked about the wastewater treatment plan being close to capacity and
an infrastructure study should be done for expansion. Alderman Frieders added that the City has
recently had a meeting with YBSD and they have funding, a plan for expansion and knowledgeable
personnel to coordinate it. Mr. Considine cautioned against rapid southern expansion of any utilities
due to so much infill building still needed. He noted that Joliet is within 1.5 miles of the planning area
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It was noted that many unincorporated areas surrounding the City could be annexed. Ms. Noble said
staff will calculate how many houses and commercial uses lie in those areas.
Mr. Weidl said the Riverfront Park is a great asset to the downtown and also mentioned the possibility
of more sports facilities near Raging Waves. In response to citizen comments, it was suggested to
explore more Parks and Rec opportunities on the south side of the City. Additional conservation areas
were also suggested.
Section 8 Corridors
Traveling on Rt. 47 appears as different “rooms” (business, commercial, residential), said Mr. Weidl.
He expanded on each of the areas. Mr. Harker asked about the possibility of a Metra station on
Eldamain or Rt. 47 near Boombah--easier to reach from the Rt. 47 corridor. Metra has recently
reconsidered looking at the Rt. 47 location, said Mr. Considine. Mr. Frieders added that this location
would be more convenient for industrial as well as for commuters.
Mr. Dickens said he agreed with the concept of branding and had looked at a website called Livability
which featured the top 100 small towns and what made them stand out. Each one had a brand and he
said Yorkville needs that as well. The second thing he looked at was infrastructure and technology. He
said Google fiber could be important to help bring companies here. He said the future is not always
brick and mortar. He also suggested a data server to bring young people. They want high speed
internet and Yorkville could provide the mix of big city/ Chicago and country living. He said the
number of existing parks should be highlighted and cited the example of Geneva which has taken old
farm buildings and mixed with their parks. He also cited the proximity to air travel.
Mr. Frieders added that Yorkville High School uses technology very well and that they have a robotics
club. He suggested asking the high school students for Comp Plan input. As a school board member,
Mr. Kozlowicz said that was a great suggestion and that the students would provide valuable
information. Mr. Weidl said perhaps the next open house could be at the school and to invite student
participation.
In conclusion, committee members were asked to forward suggestions or thoughts to staff by February
10th.
A digital copy of the Comp Plan booklet was requested by Mr. Frieders. Mr. Heinen will work with
EEI for map capabilities and by clicking on a particular site, story text would pop up.
Mr. Kozlowicz thanked the committee for some great suggestions to make this a more realistic plan.
He commented that the presentation and input was valuable and will make the Comp Plan more
dynamic. He said this committee has a responsibility to bring forth information to guide Yorkville's
future.
Additional Business None
Adjournment
There was no further business and the meeting adjourned at 8:26pm on a motion by Mr. Frieders and
second by Mr. Dickens.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Marlys Young, Minute Taker