Brookfield’s village board put a cap on a more than yearlong process by unanimously adopting a new comprehensive plan on Feb. 12, which will provide elected officials and staff guidelines for future residential and commercial development, land use planning, open space development and access, transportation planning and providing a vision for the future of the village.
The nearly 300-page document was made possible through a Local Technical Assistance grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and leaned heavily on the services of Ratio Design, an architecture and urban planning firm selected by the village.
In addition to village staff, the comprehensive plan was informed by input from a steering committee made up of municipal staff, planning commissioners, elected officials, local school officials, representatives from the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce and local business people.
The challenge now will be to begin implementing goals outlined in the plan.
“I think we’ll take a quick breath and then begin jumping into implementation strategies,” said Village Manager Keith Sbiral.
Exactly what officials will tackle first isn’t clear, though Sbiral said the village is working with CMAP and RTA to obtain grants to assist them.
“Then it’s a matter of projects that come in and relating them to what’s in the document,” Sbiral said. “Now that it’s a much more rounded document, it becomes pervasive in everything we do.”
The full comprehensive plan can be accessed online at www.ratiodesign.com/Brookfieldcp.
— Bob Uphues
