Palatine to take fresh look at downtown plan

The plan for Palatine's downtown, not examined since the start of the Great Recession, will get a fresh look, thanks to a $100,000 study announced by the Regional Transportation Authority on Thursday.

According to an RTA news release, the new plan will identify ways to improve access to public transportation in the downtown while attracting residential and commercial development to the area.

Under the study, $80,000 of which is paid by the RTA and $20,000 of which is paid by the village, an outside consultant will create the plan while working with all stakeholders, including the public.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the village applied for the study because it gives village officials a chance to revisit the downtown plan the village developed in 2001. Ottesen said a lot of the areas of downtown that plan identified as good places for new development ended up getting developed, but not all of them.

"Everything came to a screeching halt in 2007, 2008," Ottesen said.

"So we saw this as an opportunity to look at places where no development took place and see if that 15- year-old plan is still the best there."

Director of Planning and Economic Development Ben Vyverburg said the new plan should be thought of as a guide for future development potential, not as a sign of swift change.

"We're not making any zoning decisions," Vyverburg said. "It's going to be a dynamic document, not static."

According to the RTA, the plan is expected to be completed next year.

Before it is complete, the consultant group will ask for input from residents at one or more public workshops.

Vyverburg said he met the consultants for the first time Wednesday and was not sure when the public meetings would be held, but that any information would be posted on the village's website or sent out in an e-blast.