Wood Dale Open House Summary 5/18/17 The first public open house for the Wood Dale Comprehensive Plan took place on May 18 th, 2017. The program was conducted as a fun community event and there were 216 attendees. Stations were set up to facilitate discussion between residents, property owners, stakeholders, and City officials with each other and the consultant team. A great deal of useful input was provided. It will be incorporated into the mix of data analysis, technical observation, and market assessments done as part of the plan. These factors will all be considered in analyzing alternatives and developing recommendations for the Comprehensive Plan. The following sections summarize the results from each station of the open house. The information is presented in essentially raw data in a summary format. Where examples of comments are used, they are included as representative of general comments provided. IL 390 Station This station involved two large aerial maps and to-scale blocks of representative development options. Attendees were asked for their input on desired future development near the new IL 390 corridor, just south near Wood Dale Road (and the City in general). The following were key topics raised: Residents want more restaurants and shopping throughout the City. The industrial area east of Wood Dale Road is a good place for business: low rent, DuPage County taxes, access to IL 390 and Metra, easy parking, and restaurants/shops on Irving Park Road. There was a desire for community gardens. The Wood Dale Historical Society/Yesterday s Farm is called The Farm by residents and they want it to be used more. Many residents did not like the idea of any high density residential. The 26 acre vacant site prompted many ideas. Most residents want a place to meet and hangout with some residential. Ideas discussed were: a movie theater, park, convention center as there are hotels nearby, big box stores, music in the park/a small Ravinia West (could cost money, shuttle people from train), a walkable area with commercial and curb appeal, senior housing, single-family homes, townhomes. There is potential to connect the Salt Creek Trail through the industrial park to Wood Dale Junior High School.
Many residents stressed to keep big box retail along the IL 390 corridor as they would attract people into the City to spend money The eastern side of the industrial park causes traffic issues for the residential area to the south. Drivers don t stop, go too fast, or disregard traffic signs at Foster and Central, and Foster and Edgewood. Residents stressed need for a town center. Parks were important to residents. They wanted outdated ones improved, to keep existing fields (like near the Junior High), and to add more soccer fields. Residents noted the desire to find larger, newer homes in Wood Dale as they love the community and want to stay as they need more space. The need for improved property maintenance in residential areas was noted. Some residents discussed the difficulty in modifying their home due to City regulations. They thought If it was easier or there was more of an option to update homes, more residents would do so as opposed to trying to move. Transportation Station This station had three boards for attendees to offer input. One focused on improvements to Irving Park Road (specifically crossings), one asked how people travel to various destinations, and the last involved use of the Metra station. The following are results from those boards and general discussions had between attendees and the consultant: Regarding personal car, in general, most found it very easy to get everywhere they need to go via auto. Several noted how much the improvements at Wood Dale Road and Irving Park Road have made their travels much easier, with the highest amount of compliments going to the northbound left-turn arrow on Wood Dale Road, which permits this movement when a train blocks the crossings. With the arrival of the afternoon commuter trains from Chicago, Wood Dale Road becomes very congested and would benefit from: o Potential for easterly connect to Potter Street and/or Irving Park Road. o Police assistance with traffic exiting the Station. o Longer / adaptive signal to assist with the peak in traffic. With the release of the industrial on Central (typically in the 3-7PM timeframe), residential streets (Elmhurst, Central, Edgewood, Foster) become congested. This raised several questions: o Can traffic be restricted from heading south on Central - forced onto Foster? o Should Edgewood and Elmhurst operate as an All-Way Stop Control intersection? o Can the Edgewood and Elmhurst intersection have supplemental placards, indicating traffic from East/West does not stop? o Is there potential for other traffic calming measures for this area to limit impact of industrial / truck traffic?
There were several comments related to the concern with emergency vehicle response to the west side of the City, in particular when a train blocks the Irving Park / Wood Dale Road intersection. There is also concern with increase in development / changes that the service may be further impacted. Is there an opportunity to provide another connection to Irving Park Road? For the industrial business owners, as well as some residents and other businesses - a shuttle service to the industrial / business parks and/or availability of public transportation to key local destinations (shopping, work, etc.) was desirable. An example was cited how there is Pace available at the Bensenville train station. Metra is an asset to the City, with opportunities being explored to enhance access by walking / biking from areas north and west within the City. More parking and shuttle (as noted above) were also desirable. There was a strong desire by most attendees to enhance the non-auto experience within the City. The network of trails, parks and recreation center were all conveyed as significant assets of the City. There is a need for accommodations along the major roadways (Irving Park Road, Wood Dale Road, Foster Avenue, Addison Road), as well as some other key connectors to parks / schools / recreation - such as along Elizabeth Drive and Spruce ( work with Bensenville), as well as to the neighborhood south of the Reservoir. There was strong concurrence that crossing of Irving Park Road is a challenge - with a need, again for enhancements at the existing major crossings (including the newly redesigned Irving Park Rd / Wood Dale Rd), as well as the need for new crossings - with suggestions as a new major crossing somewhere between Wood Dale Road and IL 83. Filling in the sidewalk gaps and/or providing wider, off-street facilities should be considered. There were also a few concerns noted with biking behind the Target / industrial area, along with the difficulty of crossing the pedestrian bridge over Irving Park Rd in the northbound direction. Some other thoughts: o Need for a central gathering place to bring people together - with improvements provided to make it accessible via foot / bike. Some cited the Amphitheater in Bensenville as a good example. o Wood Dale should be marketed as a commuter / Metra friendly City. What Elmhurst recently did - was citied as a good example. o Streetscape enhancements should be considered along Irving Park Road, as well as some of the neighborhoods (bury utilities) - to make it more aesthetically pleasing. o And lastly - what can be done about the Airplane & Train Horn Noise?
Dear Mayor and Wood Dale Vision Station These worksheets allowed attendees to fill in blanks and/or write open responses about Wood Dale. A handful of themes were repeated in the attendee responses: Wood Dale needs more trails (walking and biking) as well as improved sidewalks An indoor pool was noted as something the City needs. Many responses include the desire for additional open space. This especially included areas for picnics with pavilions, as well as high interest for outdoor concert space and events. Both plane and train noise were noted as issues. The community wants more shopping and restaurants. There was a high desire for additional activities and places for children and teenagers. Respondents asked for increased communication between residents and the City. Irving Park Road s businesses and appearance were issues to the community. Many people wanted parks to have improved maintenance and supervision. There was also a desire for preserving the existing fields in Wood Dale and adding more.
Irving Park/Wood Dale Bucks Station This station aimed to find out how attendees would spend money on Irving Park Road. Given 5 votes, 4 options were available to vote on. Those options and their results are below. This highest voted option was to attract additional retailers and restaurants to the corridor. The voting about Irving Park using Wood Dale Bucks results: Improve Transit and Accessibility: 80 votes Improve Appearance of Public Areas: 146 votes Fix up Existing businesses and restaurants: 158 votes Attract Additional Retailers and Restaurants: 195 votes Survey Station A paper survey was provided for attendees to complete. The form asked that attendees provide insights about the City events and amenities they use and how they feel about the services they received. Most Open House attendees lived in Wood Dale and received their public services from Wood Dale governmental districts; most lived in the Fenton High School district. Most responded that they would not be willing to pay an additional fee to use a different park or library district s facilities. In rating the quality of public services (1 being low and 5 being high), library service received mostly 4-5 ratings, police mostly a 5 rating, fire mostly a 5 rating, parks mostly 3-4 ratings, and schools mostly 3-5 ratings. The recreational amenities used most often Wood Dale were walking/running trails, parks, and recreation centers. The highest attended community events by Open House attendees were Prairie Fest, the Memorial Day parade, and the Tree Lighting ceremony. A poster board (below) was used to survey attendees about where they shop in relation to where they live. The results of this exercise show that residents generally shop throughout the City, no matter where they live. However, there is an understanding from previous discussions that residents on the eastern portion of the City may use Route 83 to shop in other communities due to convenient access.
Visual Preference Survey Station A visual preference survey was conducted to get impressions from attendees about the forms of development and community enhancements they consider most appealing. Photos were organized into various categories. and, attendees asked to rank images.. The two highest ranked (by weighted average) images for each category are displayed below: Retail and Restaurants
Industrial and Office Single Family Residential Multi Family Residential Streetscapes
Signage