More than 70 parcels of land across eight Village of Brookfield parks are in the process of being rezoned in an effort to bring the lands up to current codes.
The need for the rezoning was the result of an outdated system of classification. According to the planning and zoning commission staff report from Dec. 28, the 1940 Code Book allowed for “Parks, Recreation Buildings and Clubs not conducted as a business or for profit” to be set on residential parcels. Decades later, the village adopted new zoning ordinances, “and parks and recreation uses were no longer listed as permitted uses in any single-family residential districts.”
Last September, the parks and recreation commission reviewed the classification of park properties and encouraged the rezoning. Of Brookfield’s 11 parks, only Kiwanis Park North and Kiwanis Park South had the appropriate S-1 designation. The village code lists S-1 as “General Open Space District.”
Also acceptable is the S-2 marker, “Restricted Planned Open Space District,” in which only parts of Ehlert Park were zoned. The remainder of Ehlert Park, as well as the whole of Candy Cane Park, Madison Tot Lot. Creekside Park, Maple Park North, Maple Park South, Harrison Park, and Veterans Memorial were still under the outdated zoning of single-family, multi-family or multi-unit residence districts.
Madlin Park will not be included in the rezoning effort as, according to a Jan. 8 memo “further research indicated it unlikely that the Village has exclusive ownership of the park.”
In all, this is simply a rezoning issue, as the parcels are already in use as village parks, despite the “residence district” label. There are no residential properties on these parcels.
The S-1 and S-2 zoning enshrines the parcels as public park lands. Chapter 62 of the Code of Ordinances clearly states the “following uses and no others are permitted” in the S-1 and S-2 districts, listing 14 to 16 uses, including picnic areas, playfields, walking trails, and arboreta.
In addition to the rezoning, four of the eight parks contain multiple parcels that will be consolidated as part of the measure. Maple Park North and Maple Park South currently have three Parcel Identification Numbers (PINs), Candy Cane Park has two, and Ehlert Park has 62.
Last October, officials detailed the process for consolidating the parcels. In real estate terms, “plat” is a map of an area, and a Plat of Consolidation had to be ordered from a professional survey company to objectively review boundary lines. There was no cost to taxpayers, as the Parks and Recreation Department had funding available for the survey. The plat, and related documents such as proof of the land’s ownership, were submitted to the Cook County Recorder’s Office last December.
Rezoning the parcels was a village matter, with the planning and zoning commission approving a map amendment, which it did last month and submitted it for final approval by the Village Board.
At that meeting, resident Barbara Dahm inquired during the public comment portion of the meeting whether the rezoning would allow for a community center to be built in the parks. Although no plans are currently in place for one, the rezoning now makes it possible.