VILLAGE OF GERMANTOWN HILLS
Comprehensive Plan
What is a Comprehensive Plan?
A comprehensive plan represents a community’s vision over a 20-year horizon. This vision is derived from extensive collaboration and community engagement between residents, elected officials, and stakeholders. During the planning process, residents discuss and create goals for a range of topics such as housing, transportation, infrastructure, land use, and economic development. To plan for community growth, the comprehensive plan creates general land use guidelines for land outside the current village limits in the “Extra-Jurisdictional Planning Area.”
Components of a Comprehensive Plan
A comprehensive plan is developed to answer three questions:
What are we as a community?
What would we like to be as a community?
How do we get there?
The first component of a comprehensive plan is taking inventory of the existing conditions of the community. During this phase of the plan, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission gathers extensive data to understand community trends and build a community profile.
Once the community’s current conditions are understood, a vision is created. This vision represents Germantown Hills’s goals and the type of community it wants to be. This vision is created through extensive community engagement and public input.
With a common vision in mind, the community works to identify and prioritize actions that build toward that future. This final step creates a road map for elected officials, community members, village staff, and local advocates to use in their decision-making processes and everyday work.
Roles and Partners
Tri-County Regional Planning Commission ("Tri-County")
Germantown Hills
Steering Committee
Community
Tri-County facilitates the planning process, leads steering committee meetings, conducts research, and supports the community organizing efforts of the steering committee by coordinating engagement events, such as workshops and open houses. Tri-County also drafts the final document and presents it to the Board for approval.
The Village organizes and facilitates Steering Committee meetings and engagement activities and provides critical technical details. Once the comprehensive plan is adopted, the Village ensures that the plan’s implementation strategies are realized and communicated to residents.
The Steering Committee is appointed by the Village to guide the planning process and provide detailed and timely feedback. Members often include community leaders such as elected officials, educators, business owners, and technical experts. They act as the primary liaison between Tri-County, the Village, and residents.
Community members include residents, employees, and stakeholders of Germantown Hills and surrounding areas. Throughout the planning process, the community will help craft priorities and goals by sharing ideas and offering feedback.
Steering Committee Members
Left to right: Marc Wright, Nathan Henricks, John Taylor, Dan Mair, Stephanie Chaon, Ann Doubet, A.J. Friedrich, Heather Armistead
Not pictured: Mayor Karl Figg, Justin Krager, Katie Rohman, Nicole Wilson
Planning Process Timeline
Community Engagement
Community engagement is an essential component of the planning process. Effective engagement empowers residents to advocate for and implement measures within their community. Tri-County, in collaboration with the steering committee and the Village of Germantown Hills, will maintain inclusivity to ensure that diverse voices help shape the final plan. The engagement plan outlines multiple and varying opportunities for the public to provide input.
The following are different components of the engagement plan:
Survey
To better understand community needs and public opinion, Tri-County has published a survey for Germantown Hills community members. The survey is open from early January to February 20, 2025; it asks for resident input on various topics like housing, recreational amenities, and economic development preferences. Surveys are available online (click here!) and in paper copies at Village Hall and the Illinois Prairie District Public Library – Germantown Hills Branch.
Open House
Join us for an Open House event from 4 to 6 PM on Thursday, February 13th at the Germantown Hills Fire Department located at 313 Prairie Avenue. The open house will feature several interactive stations designed to help community members evaluate community assets and identify priorities for the Village and surrounding areas. Tri-County staff and Steering Committee members will be on-site and happy to answer questions. Kids are welcome and snacks will be provided.
Stakeholder Interview
The Steering Committee works with the Village and Tri-County staff to identify community stakeholders for interviews. Interviewees are often technical experts who can provide detailed insights into the Village’s institutional capacity, social services, community interests, and the business environment. Interviews are designed to gain context, solicit insights, and identify any organizational needs.
Pop-up Events
Successful engagement plans meet people where they are, offering outreach and participation options at events and gatherings already occurring. To spread awareness of the planning process and to encourage residents to participate in the community survey or Open House, Steering Committee members are sharing flyers and information at various sports, educational, and social events in January and February.