Campton Hills planning commission opens update of village comprehensive plan

The Campton Hills Planning and Zoning Commission began work on updating the village comprehensive plan at a special meeting, and agreed to review a 2023 draft alongside portions of the 2012 plan that previous commissioners produced.

The commission's chair said the comprehensive plan is the village's long-range vision and is typically updated on a roughly 10- to 15-year cycle; with the zoning ordinance now completed, the commission should align the plan to the new zoning map. "A comprehensive plan is basically a vision of the community and how the community wants to grow or maintain this quality of life going forward," the chair said.

Why it matters: the comprehensive plan guides zoning maps and regulations that carry the force of ordinance, so updating the plan will inform how the village implements its recently completed zoning ordinance and map.

During public comment, Peggy Sue Sehafer, who said she served on the commission for the prior two and a half years, urged commissioners not to discard earlier work. "Why would you start all over again only to waste all that time and work and money?" Sehafer asked, saying the previous commission had nearly completed maps and layout for a new comprehensive plan and that the commission should build on that work rather than rewrite it.

Commissioners discussed a process for reviewing materials. The chair said commissioners will work page-by-page through chapters, draw on the draft 2023 document that was provided at the meeting and the 2012 material, and ask the planner to produce a revised document reflecting the commission's consensus. Planner Jim Brown was described by the chair as the staff expert who will prepare and circulate edited chapters for review.

The chair also set some administrative expectations: meetings should generally run no more than two hours, the chair is authorized to extend meetings when necessary by roughly 15–20 minutes, and commissioners should use the village-provided email accounts to keep official correspondence separate from personal accounts. Staff members and commissioners noted an IT setup process involving an authenticator app for village email accounts and encouraged members to get assistance in person if needed.

The commission took one recorded formal action: it approved minutes from a previous meeting after a spelling correction. Commissioner Jerry Johnson moved to approve the minutes; Commissioner Kopec seconded the motion. The approval was made by voice vote and the motion carried.

Next steps: the commission will begin with chapters 1 and 2 at the next meeting, review planner Brown's edits for accuracy, then proceed to later chapters and to maps. Commissioners were given copies of the draft materials at the meeting to use as reference.