Palatine planning commissioners unanimously recommend village adopt updated comprehensive plan

The Village of Palatine Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously March 25 to recommend that the village council adopt the final draft of the Village of Palatine Comprehensive Plan, following a presentation by village staff and the Lakota Group and a public hearing with two members of the public.

Community Development Director Mike Jacobs told the commission the plan process began in early 2023 and included interviews with village departments, outreach to the mayor and village council, stakeholder groups (including the park district and historical society), meetings with local businesses and developers, student input from Frampton and Palatine high schools, two community open houses (September 2023 and June 2024), and an online engagement portal. Jacobs said the steering committee — which included residents, business owners and the planning commission chair — recommended approval and staff also recommended the plan.

Andy Cross, senior planner with the Lakota Group, described the document’s structure and priorities. The plan is organized around three themes — the built environment, economy and growth, and community and neighborhoods — and translates goals into strategies and specific, actionable items. Cross said the consultants provided an implementation matrix to the village to translate plan goals into tasks that can be prioritized and tracked. “We call this our implementation matrix,” Cross said.

The plan includes a future land use strategy and a future land use map that differs from zoning by indicating where the community wants to go over a five- to ten-year time frame. Lakota identified six “opportunity” sites the consultants judged most susceptible to change during the plan horizon, including several parcels along Northwest Highway and other commercial corridors where the plan envisions mixed-use redevelopment, medium-density housing and gateway treatments. The document also references existing subarea work — including a recent downtown master plan and a 2016 downtown study — and does not supersede those existing efforts.

During public comment, resident Dennis Dwire said he was pleased with the village and asked about the status and public availability of the implementation matrix. Jacobs said staff intends to finalize the plan, bring it to the village council for feedback, and then work with the council to prioritize actions and share the implementation priorities publicly. Resident Brandon Parrot Sheffer urged attention to the Walmart shopping center corridor and to planting trees and streetscape improvements; staff responded that redevelopment agreements, façade improvements and a grocery store project are already underway at that center and that other parcels nearby have redevelopment activity planned.

Commission discussion emphasized the plan’s actionable focus, the attention to corridors and opportunity sites, and the plan’s role in guiding future capital and budget priorities. Commissioner Pat (Planning and Zoning Commission) made the motion to recommend approval; Commissioner Cindy (Planning and Zoning Commission) seconded. The commission recorded a unanimous roll-call recommendation in favor of the plan. The recommendation is advisory; the village council is scheduled to consider the plan at its April 14 meeting.

The commission’s recommendation does not itself change zoning. Commissioners and staff noted that the comprehensive plan is a policy and vision document intended to inform future zoning, capital improvements and subarea planning; zoning or other regulatory changes would require separate public hearings and any necessary amendments to the zoning code or comprehensive plan at a later time.

Implementation details identified in the hearing include: the implementation matrix provided to the village (kept as a dynamic Excel tool to allow periodic reprioritization), the identification of six opportunity sites for targeted redevelopment, references to the recently created Dundee Road TIF district as a tool to spur redevelopment, and a recognition that some subarea plans (for example the downtown master plan and a 2016 TOD study) remain distinct documents to guide more detailed downtown interventions.

Next steps: the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the village council for consideration on April 14, 2025; staff said they will work with council and other partners to prioritize actions in the implementation matrix and make those priorities available once finalized.