Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)— Around 40 Park Forest residents gathered at Dining on the Green, 349 Main Street Tuesday to participate in a workshop focusing on the future of the village.
“You are the focal point tonight,” said Village Manager Tom Mick.
Nine stations for feedback were set up for residents to discuss changes and voice opinions on the areas. Eight consisted of sub areas of the village, and one for the village as a whole. Worksheets were also given out consisting of maps and questions about the nine areas. Maps were also displayed were residents could put stickers to indicate where they would like to see housing development.
Chris Brewer, Principal with Economic Research Associates summarized the study and spoke on the demographics in Park Forest.
“We are expecting tremendous growth in the future,” Brewer said.
Diane Barnes, senior planner with HNTB, said the village is at the conclusion of phase one of the four phase planning process, and only after another workshop would a plan be finalized and brought to the plan commission.
“There will be at least two more opportunities for public input,” said Hildy Kingma, director of economic development and planning.
Areas discussed in the study included the following:
Sub-Area 1 – Downtown Gateway
Sub-Area 2 – Norwood Square Shopping Center
Sub-Area 3 – Park Forest Business Park
Sub-Area 4 – Western Avenue Annexation Area
Sub-Area 5 – East Gateway
Sub-Area 6 – Marquette and Niagara Streets
Sub-Area 7 – West Gateway
Sub-Area 8 – Eastgate Neighborhood
(Graphic: VOPF)
