Visioning workshop to shape ideas for Elmhurst sites
Have thoughts about the corner of York and Vallette streets in Elmhurst?
Want to see a specific type of business near North Avenue and Route 83?
The time to share your thoughts is Tuesday, Elmhurst officials say, as the city hosts a visioning workshop focused on five sections of town from 7 to 9 p.m. at city hall, 209 N. York St.
City staff members and consultants from Houseal Lavigne Associates of Chicago will conduct an open house to gather community feedback about five intersections or corridors, called subareas, that the city is studying in order to develop future plans.
"It's really just an information-gathering workshop for us," said Eileen Franz, assistant planning and zoning administrator.
The subareas include the business district at York and Vallette streets, the Lake Street corridor between Route 83 and York Street, a one-block area at First and York streets downtown, several blocks of Butterfield Road west of York Street, and the intersection of North Avenue and Route 83.
These business zones last were reviewed from an urban planning standpoint in 2009 when Elmhurst adopted its comprehensive plan.
Now the city is soliciting feedback from property owners, business operators and residents in and around the subareas, as well as other interested residents, during the visioning workshop.
The feedback will contribute to plans that will form a new vision for land use, transportation, infrastructure, character and sense of place in the five defined areas and will give examples of buildings that could be developed there and businesses that could succeed.
"It's just an opportunity for residents to come out and provide their comments on those areas," Franz said.
People also can create online maps to share their thoughts by marking locations where they think Elmhurst has community assets, priority sites for development, problematic intersections, public safety concerns, undesirable uses, features with poor appearance or missing pedestrian connections. The online mapmaking tool is available at HTTPS://map.social/ListMap.php?CommunityID=121 or from a link on the subarea planning process page of the city of Elmhurst website at https://www.elmhurst.org/1555/Elmhurst-Subarea-Plans.
Once Houseal Lavigne Associates receives the feedback, Franz said the company will take a month or so to compile a report. The city then can review and adopt the report as guidelines for the future of the sites.