How will Northfield develop? Town officials met to discuss

A restaurant may not be the typical setting for an official meeting of an elected board, but the location, The Happ Inn, was suitable for the Northfield Village Board’s Wednesday evening discussion on the future of the community’s downtown, among other things.

The purpose of the special Committee of the Whole meeting on Sept. 17 was to go over the Village’s Vision Plan 2040, learn what was within it, and discuss any potential projects that piqued trustees’ interest.

Vision Plan 2040 is Northfield’s comprehensive plan, which was adopted in July 2020.

Village President Tracey Mendrek said at the start of the meeting that the visioning session was a suggestion of Village Manager Patrick Brennan, who she said wanted to “really get the pulse of this board’s feeling about things that are in the 2040 plan and anything we might want to look at further, delve into further.”

Also, since the current incarnation of the board has been busy since being seated in May, she said, “this was a chance for us to get together, break bread, talk about things in a slightly more informal way, but certainly include everybody from the public that wanted to be here.”

Brennan added that he wanted to know if the Village Board and staff are aligned in their ideas for the future of Northfield.

“It helps us know, from a staff perspective, (if) we’re fairly closely aligned to what the board’s thought process is as things move forward and develop,” he said.

Brennan also repeatedly noted during the meeting that the 2040 plan is a gathering of concepts and ideas, not official policy.

Trustees signal support for Northfield Road redevelopment

While trustees spent the majority of the evening listening to Brennan’s presentation, they also discussed potential redevelopment of the Northfield Road corridor.

The comprehensive plan identifies the area south of the currently vacant Mariano’s property, and adjacent to the North Shore Senior Center, as one for potential redevelopment.

“The aspiration was, could this be an area where there may be some increased density, or row-home-type development?” Brennan said. “Could there be mixed use in this area and how would you develop that? Could the public parking area be enhanced and expanded to help serve this area?”

A rendering in the comprehensive plan shows a small street surrounded by buildings and a path that leads to the Village Center.

Steve Gutierrez, Northfield’s community development director, added that one potential concept was to have the area include office buildings mixed with residential with a potential to include on the north end row houses and mixed use (residential and retail) buildings.

Trustee Todd Fowler said it would be similar to “creating an entire new neighborhood in Northfield.”

“Right now you just drive down Northfield Road. There’s not a lot of things to see or do,” he said. “This creates a sense of space and a higher density usage that gives, potentially, even more housing in downtown.”

He also suggested that the area could be redeveloped as a “community neighborhood” for the senior center.

Gutierrez clarified that the renderings in the comprehensive plan are just concepts of projects the Village may support.

He said Northfield Road is currently zoned for light industrial and service areas, and discourages residential development.

Trustee Tom Whittaker suggested that trustees consider rezoning the Northfield Road corridor, similarly to recent action the board took for Northfield’s Central Street corridor.

“I think not taking advantage of opportunities, and all of this is an opportunity, would be foolish on our part,” he said.

Trustees voiced interest in exploring a rezone of the area, and Brennan said he and Gutierrez would bring a plan to a future Committee of the Whole meeting.

Other highlights

Brennan also noted other potential ideas and concepts within the comprehensive plan.

One idea would be to relocate Village Hall and the police department to a new building and redevelop the current site, which is on a prime corner at Willow and Happ roads.

Other redevelopment ideas Brennan mentioned in the comprehensive plan include looking at existing sites on Willow Road.

One would be Bess Hardware & Sports, a site the comprehensive plan noted at the time of its adoption was up for sale. Brennan said the comprehensive plan identifies any redevelopment of that site as having to cooperate with the adjacent Shell station, which would “increase development potential by providing a larger, more accessible site.”

Another suggestion in the comprehensive plan was to examine the northeast corner of Willow Road and Central Avenue, the site of a Starbucks location. The comprehensive plan identified the site as a potential location for a hotel or entertainment use.

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