Naperville officials this week showcased a plan on the future of downtown at an informal town hall session attended by about 60 residents in the municipal center.
The forum offered residents a look at highlights of the plan at five separate stations set up in council chambers. Steve Rubin, chairman of the Downtown Plan Steering Committee, encouraged residents to visit the stations managed by city staff members and members of the steering committee who helped develop the proposal, and to look for strengths and weaknesses before it heads to the Plan Commission for a public hearing March 22.
“It is not a parking plan, it’s not a teardown plan and it’s not a fistful of ordinances to enact,” Rubin said. “It provides a focus and understanding of a very valuable aspect of Naperville.”
The plan for the city’s downtown over the next 10 years has been developed by a committee of city staff, consultants and residents. It addresses land use and development in the downtown and calls for a diverse mixed-use area stressing retail and entertainment. It offers loose design guidelines for downtown structures and addresses traffic flow, parking and pedestrian access.
Chicago-based consulting firm Trkla, Pettigrew, Allen and Payne worked with the committee to develop the plan at the council’s direction in light of fears that the downtown area was turning over too rapidly.
The plan, which was unveiled last month, does not spell out strict rules on architectural style of new stores and restaurants. Rather it recommends that new buildings be compatible with the traditional scale and character of downtown.
“You want to keep it in context with what exists,” said steering committee member Bill Anderson, as some of the residents were checking out the plan’s building design guidelines.
Some Mill Road residents on Monday said they came to the session out of concern over the plan’s call for Mill Street to be enhanced as a secondary access route to downtown from the north, which aims to provide an alternative to Washington Street and relieve traffic congestion along that corridor. The proposal recommends the installation of left turn lanes on Mill at Spring, Benton and Jefferson Avenues.
Residents said the existing traffic flow on their street is already heavy, making access to homes difficult and posing hazardous conditions for children and pedestrians.
Residents also got to submit written comments and questions.
Dwight Yackley wrote that the plan’s call for improvements to pedestrian walkways and for the installation of “wayfinding” signs intended to more effectively guide movement in and around the downtown should be given the utmost priority.
“Wide inviting walks from the train station down to the Naper Settlement will provide better synergy for all of downtown’s wonderful assets,” Yackley wrote.
Other residents urged that the plan allow for expansion of the downtown library. And Judy Stratman asked that officials afford an “atmosphere which encourages low- and moderate-income housing in the downtown area and throughout the community.”
Wendy Yaksich, assistant director of the city’s community development department, said the written comments will be submitted to the Plan Commission before next week’s public hearing, which is set to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the municipal building’s council chambers.
