Northbrook board forwards public‑hearing draft of comprehensive zoning rewrite after joint review with planning commission

The Village of Northbrook’s Village Board voted to place a public‑hearing draft of a comprehensive zoning code rewrite on the board’s next agenda after a joint meeting with the Planning Commission, with Trustee Ross moving the motion and Trustee Hebel seconding. The Planning Commission participated although it did not have a quorum and took no final action.

The draft consolidates three stated goals — preserve community character, prioritize user experience and promote sustainability — and includes a wide range of changes: allowing duplexes and other “missing‑middle” housing in additional residential districts; adding new housing types such as cottage courts, triplexes/quadplexes and 5–12 unit buildings in specified districts; permitting attached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) subject to standards; new form‑based standards and a minimum two‑story requirement for the Village Green Overlay (VGO); design standards for façades and glazing; and administrative and procedural changes including clearer public‑notification rules and new administrative modification authority.

Why it matters: The package would change where and how denser housing can be built in Northbrook, alter downtown form and parking rules intended to support walkable, transit‑oriented development, and revise decision processes used by staff and boards. Those changes affect homeowners, developers, downtown businesses and residents who rely on Village services.

Key housing changes and standards

• Duplexes: The draft would allow duplexes by right in multiple single‑family districts (presenter identified as Mikaela, community development staff). “We are proposing to allow duplexes by right,” Mikaela said during the presentation, describing the allowance as a means to add housing diversity.

• Missing‑middle types: The draft proposes cottage courts (multiple small homes on a single lot), triplexes and quadplexes in mid‑density districts, and 5–12 unit dwellings in multifamily and larger corridor districts to provide transitional housing between…