Palatine finalizes first comprehensive plan in 20 years

Palatine’s current comprehensive plan dates back to 1990, when a population hovering around 36,000 people lived in a smaller physical footprint.

Since then, the number of residents has nearly doubled, boundaries have expanded after a series of land annexations from unincorporated Cook County, and retail options have multiplied.

Now that Palatine is considered a mature community with little remaining vacant land, officials are on the verge of approving a new decision-making guide on future land use, transportation, economic development, community facilities, environmental sustainability and urban design.

“It’s a major undertaking but very important as we plan the future of our community,” Village Manager Reid Ottesen said.

The village council Monday discussed the final draft and is expected to approve the document Dec. 19.

The new comprehensive plan is the result of a process that began in October 2009 with consulting firm Camiros. It included about 15 public meetings, feedback from area taxing bodies and an online survey that garnered more than 350 responses.

Officials focused on several areas within Palatine, including the Northwest Highway, Rand Road and Dundee Road corridors, downtown, the Dundee and Hicks area, the Camelot property around Palatine Stables and the commercial corridor known as Merrill’s Triangle along Colfax Street.

With so little vacant land left and an estimated 85 percent of Palatine already developed in a fairly “cohesive manner,” according to Ottesen, the plan largely focuses on redevelopment opportunities on existing properties, most of which were built in the 1960s and 1970s and now approaching the end of their useful life.

For example, Director of Village Planning and Zoning Ben Vyverberg said that due to a total absence of any buyer interest in the rundown Camelot property at Northwest Highway and Dundee, officials recommend converting it into open space.

Planners also cite the importance of better linking residential areas with retail centers and said the council should consider an “internal circulator” bus between village activity centers such as downtown and Harper College.

And in one of the few cases of open land, officials point out the potential for commercial development just south of Lake-Cook Road near Rand. There’s also an opportunity to incorporate natural areas and the lake back there.

“It’s something to keep in the back of your mind,” Camiros consultant Jeanne Lindwall said. “One of the values of a comprehensive plan is to articulate those kinds of future needs so that when the resources are available ... you’re ready to tackle them.”