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Publications
Sensible Tools For Healthy Communities
A Decision-Making Workbook for Local Officials, Developers, and Community Leaders
Douglas R. Porter, Principal Author
About the Workbook
How to Use the Workbook
Sponsors
 The links below are PDF files and require the free Adobe Reader, available via the following link: Adobe Reader download.
Introduction (76 kb)
- Clarifying Concepts and Untangling Terminology
- Guiding Principles
- Northeastern Illinois Housing Endorsements Criteria
- Checklist for Sensible Growth
- Ten Things You'll Always Hear at Public Hearings
Part I: Questions and Actions (1 mb)
Part II: Basic Information and Helpful Guidance (537 kb)
- Best Development Practices
- Work Sheet 4: Community Goals for Development
- Illinois Statutes
—Comprehensive Plans
—Zoning Ordinances
—Subdivision Regulations
—Annexation Agreements
Download the entire Sensible Tools For Healthy Communities workbook. (1.6 mb)
About the Workbook
Livable, attractive communities are created as a result of hundreds, even thousands, of development
decisions. How can local elected and appointed officials increase the odds that they make the right decisions? This
Workbook was created to meet that need.
Property owners and developers in the Chicago region frequently ask public officials to amend or revise zoning or subdivision
regulations to allow types of development that are prohibited according to the applicable law. Property owners also may ask
local government officials, such as planning commissioners and village council members, to consider annexation of properties
being proposed for development. Communities must assess these requests with the best information available and
make the right decision based on the overall merits of the request.
Many such proposals are difficult to assess.
Some may raise questions about the effects of a proposed project on adjacent neighborhoods and the community at large. Others
may pose broader issues about the direction and quality of future community growth. Developer requests may require close scrutiny
and significant changes to conform to community goals and development policies. Communities that have adopted comprehensive
plans already have some guidance about evaluating proposals, but may have questions regarding consistency with those
plans.
Local officials know how important these decisions can be for the future livability of
their community. They also know that constituents and voters expect them to make informed and sensible decisions. This
Workbook is intended to help local government officials decide how to apply and/or amend rules and regulations that affect proposed
development projects. It can help to educate developers and builders about community expectations for development.
While it is unlikely that any particular proposal will meet every goal of a community, local leaders need tools to balance these
needs and determine the best possible project in the context of the real estate market, state and federal regulations, and short and
long term needs. It may be that a proposed project conflicts with a community’s comprehensive plan. Should the project be
automatically discarded, or should the community think more broadly about whether the existing plan and zoning meet sensible
growth goals?
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Campaign for Sensible Growth, and Metropolitan Planning Council cooperated to produce
the Workbook. Each of the organizations has a stake in promoting sensible growth through planning and development
that enhance the quality of life enjoyed by all residents of northeastern Illinois. As a result of this unusual collaborative
effort, individual members of the respective sponsors of this document may not agree with every statement in it. Just as a municipality
must weigh a proposed development based on its overall merits, these organizations support the document as a whole.
Building on Sensible Growth Principles
In preparing the Workbook, the three organizations aimed to provide definition to the principles spelled out on page v. These
principles, such as increasing choices of housing and how people get to work; providing
options for travel around the region;and protecting water, land, air, and species resources provide broad guidelines for evaluating
how proposed projects can contribute to quality community growth. Building on these principles, the Workbook
is organized to help local officials, developers, and community leaders:
1. Plan for the community’s future economic, environmental, and social viability by incorporating
the vision and goals of the community, in advance of development controversy;
2. Identify the extent to which the project would achieve the community’s development goals and standards;
3. Quickly understand key pros and cons of a proposal in the short time-frame of typical public hearings;
4. Thoughtfully examine the project benefits claimed by applicants;
5. Carefully consider costs or impacts, including any that might be raised by the project’s opponents; and
6. Identify changes that could improve the likelihood of project approval and desired community impact.
Discussion generated by this information can shed light on the potential contributions
that a proposed project might make to the quality of life in communities as they grow and change.
Asking the Right Questions.
The Workbook’s subjects and format are based on the concept
that asking the right questions is necessary
to obtaining the right answers. The
Workbook poses a series of questions to
help local officials evaluate requests for five
common types of events that usually require
public hearings, including adopting or revising:
• Local comprehensive plans;
• Rezoning or zoning amendments;
• Annexation of development sites;
• Approval of subdivision plans; and
• Approval of specific site plans.
The information generated by these questions will help local planning commissioners,
village boards, city council members, and zoning commissioners to reach conclusions
about the sensibility of the actions requested. At the same time, it is hoped that the questions will alert developers, builders
and their professional consultants in advance to the kinds of concerns that local officials and civic leaders will have about
their proposals.
How to Use the Workbook
The Workbook has three major parts:
The introduction includes Sensible Growth principles and techniques. It allows a
quick evaluation on the extent to which development proposals will advance Sensible Growth.
Part I is a list of questions for each of the five major types of public decisions about development. The questions are suggested
ways to help local officials evaluate proposed projects. Follow-up questions and actions are also included, plus space to
add helpful information about your own community’s policies and regulations.
Part II presents helpful guidance for ways
to improve projects to meet the community’s objectives for development and better achieve Sensible Growth outcomes.
Use the Workbook this way: Before and/or during a public hearing or other event concerning proposed development:
1. Review the initial checklist of Sensible Growth principles and criteria (page v) to quickly assess how
consistent a requested action may be;
2. Turn to the section about the specific type of proposal (Annexations, page 11;
Zoning: Rezoning, Zoning Amendments, and Variances, page 17; Subdivisions,
page 27; and Site Plans, page 39) and refer to questions relating to typical project issues;
3. Check the most important topics to raise for discussion of the proposal;
4. Refresh your memory about your community’s comprehensive plan goals for future development; and
5. Refer to Part II to find brief descriptions of options and best practices for your consideration in
reviewing the proposed project.
The questions do not require complicated answers from applicants. They may require cross-referencing the various sections, for
example, when a project needs rezoning and subdivision approval while seeking annexation. But the questions are intended
to remind the user about the concerns and issues often raised by proposed developments. And they might provide some ideas
about how the proposed action might help or hinder a community as it attempts to accommodate growth and change.
The sponsoring organizations would like to make the Workbook as useful as possible. In order to get full value from the Workbook,
add information about your local plan, zoning ordinance, and other regulations. Feel free to customize it to serve your needs.
Add and subtract items, provide additional information, re-phrase questions — all are encouraged. Consider the Workbook to be
yours to use in whatever way is most beneficial.
Sponsors
URS TPAP
Farr Associates
Mid-America Real Estate Corp.
Bank of America
Applied Real Estate Analysis Inc.
Duncan Associates
Granite Development Corp.
Sidwell
Valerie S. Kretchmer Associates, Inc.
Serena Strum Architects
PACE
S.B. Friedman & Company
Camiros
DLK Incorporated
AMLI Residential
Piper Rudnick
National City Corporation
NagleHartrayDankerKaganMcKayPenney Architects Ltd.
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