The Teutopolis Plan Commission has endorsed the village’s first comprehensive plan in 14 years. Before the plan is set in motion, it must be approved by the village board.
In April, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign urban planning graduate students Jack Vonderheide, Proma Barua, Joey Cardani and Will Pujol presented a Comprehensive Plan draft at two different public forums with the help of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Andrew Greenlee.
Survey respondents believe Teutopolis’ strengths include: the appearance of the community, fire protection, law enforcement, roadway maintenance, parking options, street maintenance, appearance of housing, quality of education, safety of students at school, the availability of programs and services, park maintenance, park recreation facilities and more.
Respondents believe there are opportunities to improve in: traffic flow, designated truck routes, upgrading the Main Street and Pearl Street intersection, expanding sidewalks and ensuring they are ADA compliant, recreation programs for both adults and senior citizens, using public funds, the ability to recruit and retain quality staff at the schools, affordable housing for purchase and rent, senior housing, long-term care facilities, bike lanes, drinking water quality, access to affordable childcare and more.
During the two public forums, ideas for improving the community through water and sewer infrastructure, economic development, child care and more were discussed with Teutopolis community members.
From the 1,397 surveys, respondents also said they want to create a sense of belonging and a plan for growth in the future that’s both sustainable and feasible.
Teutopolis “has this strong residential surrounding neighborhood, which actually adds to this urban-core idea of a central business district that creates the center of the town, per se, and this is sort of what drives our analysis beyond just the personality aspect,” said Cardani during the first public forum.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign students then presented an updated draft during a May Village Board meeting with the feedback they received from the forums.
“The small-town charm was a lot of the reasons that people moved here in the first place, if they did move here,” said Pujol during the May Village Board meeting.
Some residents said they are concerned about future land use availability for residential housing and sidewalks in subdivisions where street layouts are yet to be completed.
During the recent Plan Commission meeting, the Planning Commission members debated over whether or not to include any personally identifiable information that was in the comments when the Village publishes the final plan. After some discussion, the commission approved a motion to approve the plan pending the removal of any individual names and/or identifying personal information.
The next Village Board meeting is scheduled for July 16 at 7 p.m. in the Village Hall.