Sycamore City Council OKs updated city comprehensive plan

SYCAMORE – After a year and a half, Sycamore city officials gave the green light for city staff to post the city’s 2021 comprehensive plan during the City Council meeting this week.

The Sycamore City Council voted, 8-0, to approve the new comprehensive plan on second reading during its Monday meeting in downtown Sycamore. All members were present for the meeting.

Sycamore acting City Manager Maggie Peck said during the Monday meeting the comprehensive plan last was updated in 2014. She said the proposed updated plan included an analysis of the city’s more current conditions, as well as goals and objectives.

“We have spent the last year and a half working on this as a staff,” Peck said. “We had several meetings and workshops and surveys to complete this updated plan.”

Peck said the updated plan soon will be posted on the city’s website, www.cityofsycamore.com.

Council members had no additional discussion about the proposed at the meeting.

When the plan was considered and approved by council on first reading July 19, Peck said the plan is meant to represent the community’s vision and to serve as a basis for a future city planning. She said she is expecting the city’s population to increase, which she said has been “a really good, steady increase,” and she said she believes the city has been keeping up with that growth so far.

Peck also said community members who participated in workshops for the comprehensive plan told city staff they wanted to see more diverse housing stock, including more financially accessible multi-family options, but they don’t want to see more rental properties added to the city. Along with people wanting to see more outdoor dining options, she said there also was a lot of concern about keeping up the aesthetic of the city’s downtown area.

“People do not want to see that change,” Peck said.

Beyond fixing data points and typos in the plan, Peck said Monday there were no major changes made to the proposed comprehensive plan between the City Council meetings on July 19 and Monday.