A FORK IN THE ROAD:
BEECHER'S PLAN FOR TWO DIFFERENT FUTURES
By CHARLES ECKENSTAHLER
On April 22, 1996, the President and Board of
Trustees of the Village of Beecher adopted a comprehensive amendment to the Village Plan. Stimulated by
the potential for a third regional airport for the
Chicago Metropolitan Area commonly referred to as
the Peotone Site along the Village boundary, the Board
of Trustees established future land use plans for two
different growth options. According to Bob Barber,
Village Administrator, "Its not unusual to adopt a Plan
amendment. However, adopting a plan which included the
location of the airport when the official policy of the Board
is in opposition to an airport located within 15 miles of the
Village's limits posed some unusual planning and public relations requirements."
Key Components of the Plan
The consulting team projected two population
growth scenarios which would affect the 2,200 residents of Beecher. Either the Village will grow naturally over the next twenty years to 6,000 residents or to
12,000 residents if an airport is constructed. It was a
prevailing fear that the amount of land converted from
rural farm land into urban uses would alter the historic
character and quality of life of the rural hamlet and
suburbanite a close knit community.
The 1989 Future Land Use Plan was found to be
valid and acceptable with certain minor modifications
by the Planning Commission. Significant changes included the location of a new industrial/business area
north of the Village and greater emphasis on the need
for north-south and east-west transportation improvements to handle truck traffic using Illinois Route #1
which runs through the Village as a by-pass for Interstate 80-94 to Interstate 65 in Indiana.
Added to the new plan were specific elements
which address refurbishment of the Downtown to an
historic 1905 theme, appearance improvements for
commercial buildings located along Illinois Route #1,
the development of a 120-acre business park, and extension of the existing patterns of residential development through the encouragement of neo-traditional
housing development concepts.
The airport plan, as finally accepted by the
Village, includes a larger commercial and industrial development area, mostly located between the Village
and the airport boundary. The Illinois Route #394 bypass around the Village allows for location of the commercial and industrial business related to airport development assessed by frontage roads allowing for the
separation of local and interstate traffic patterns.
Community Relations Activities
of the Plan Commission
According to Plan Commission Chairman Noel
Biery, "word of mouth is best and the quickest communication medium in Beecher. We took advantage of this by presenting, discussing and pre-approving each element of the
Plan during the six month preparation process." Through
this process, information about population projections, goals & policies, downtown redevelopment, a
new industrial park and the historic building appearance standards were reported in the news media and
Village newsletter. This information was discussed and
debated by citizens each morning at the local coffee
shop and post office which provided almost instant feedback concerning ideas and concepts promoted for the
future.
In addition, formal presentations of the
Comprehensive Plan were made to the School Board,
Chamber of Commerce, Lions and other clubs.
Presentations were also made to the Beecher High
School Civics classes, since these residents will be the
most significantly affected age group when the plan is
reviewed in the year 2020. A detailed summary of the
Plan was prepared and mailed to every household in
the Village announcing the public hearing. Copies
were also mailed to non-Village resident school board
members, Chamber of Commerce members, Township
officers, surrounding community officials, County
Commissioners and the County Land Use Department
encouraging their attendance at the public hearing.
July 1996 / lllinois. Municipal Review / Page 13
Barber, viewed the public hearing as an opportunity to inform concerned citizens of the reasons for
the plan as much as the opportunity to seek public input into the final document. "Little did we realize that six
months of work would be so closely scrutinized by the public
who advocated the position that adoption of this plan would
be a defacto endorsement of an airport at Peotone; a position
contrary to the official Village policy."
What Was Learned From The Process
According to Barber, three critical things were learned from the process:
1. Contrary to it's policy position, the Plan Commission can educate itself and carefully plan for an undesired outcome, similar to preparing an emergency
contingency plan for an event which could adversely affect a community's quality of life.
2. Incremental pre-approval of critical assumptions and plan elements over a period of time provides
opportunities for discussion and development of
thought processes for the Plan Commissioners,
Trustees, key community leaders and the general public concerning each element and the desired outcome
of the plan.
3. Positive controversy causes greater interest, generating more individual input in the planning process
and local government, in general. It creates the human
desire to know more about the future and the incentive to be part of the process to determine the future.
Village President Landis Wehling commented, "At
no time in my 24 years as President did we see such a deep
concern from the residents. Iast year at our public hearing
for the construction of the wastewater treatment plant expansion only five people were present at the public hearing.
Our public hearing on the plan was attended by 86 residents
seeking to learn how we would handle the impact of the airport should the decision be made to build. By adopting the
future plan showing the airport, we are not altering the
Village position in opposition to the airport, but instead we
established our view of how the Village should develop if the
airport is approved against our wishes."
Page14 / Illinois municipal Review/ July 1996
