Between 50 and 60 Brookfield residents turned out at the village hall on April 26 to participate in the first comprehensive planning public workshop, hosted by village officials and consultants hired to assist with the year-long process.
Unlike comprehensive planning get-togethers back in 2003, the last time the village attempted such a large scale planning effort, it was an informal affair where residents could move freely from station to station to provide input (both written and via a simple sticker) indicating preferences for types of building types, streetscape elements, planning goals and objectives and their visions for Brookfield in the future.
The workshop drew a range of people, from some longtime residents to younger families with kids in tow. The feel was far different than the Brookfield 2020 planning sessions held in the early 2000s, which were less spontaneous and often led by the then-chairman of the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
The comprehensive planning process is part of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s Local Technical Assistance program, which is funding a portion of the effort. Brookfield hired the firm Ratio Design as its lead consultant.
Information from the April 26 workshop will be used to create a draft plan, which will be unveiled in the fall, said Lesley Roth, senior urban planner for Ratio Design, who was on hand to talk one-on-one with residents at the workshop.
According to Roth, there will be another public workshop after the draft plan is written, to see if consultants nailed what it is Brookfield residents say they’d like to see happen in their community.
“We’ll bring it back to the public and ask, ‘Did we hear you right?'” Roth said.
Documents and other information related to the comprehensive planning process can be found online at www.ratiodesign.com/brookfieldcp.
The planning effort is expected to wrap up in early 2018.
