Antioch residents offer input on future of downtown

Forgoing St. Patrick's Day revelry, about 20 people came to a meeting that intended to give average citizens a voice in the future of downtown Antioch.

Photographs, artist's renderings and architectural schematics of what a future downtown might look like covered a half-dozen tables. Residents were asked to look over the images and rate them on a scale of zero to five in terms of attractiveness.

Dustin Nilsen, Antioch's community development director, led the session.

"I need to hear from you all. I need your input," Nilsen said. "Tell me what you think. Do you like them? Do you hate them? Tell us."

The images represented a new way for Antioch to control future development of its downtown.

The "form-based" approach emphasizes what the village desires, instead of just listing everything the village prohibits in terms of building and architectural design, Nilsen said.

"I had this mile-high view of what we want to be when we grow up and really no way of seeing it happen," Nilsen said. "This is an opportunity for the village to say what it wants through regulations."

The architectural drawings came from a recent study done by the Regional Transportation Authority and other consultant studies.

"It's a good fit for central business districts. It promotes pedestrian transit and walkways," he said. "It's more sustainable and promotes a quality of life."

Pat Hays attended the workshop. She lives on Main Street.

"Something needs to be done downtown," she said. "I know this all costs money and the economy isn't great, but I'm hopeful. I would say I'm cautiously optimistic we'll see some of these plans in place in the future."

It could be years before any of the designs become reality. Nilsen said information from the public workshop will be sent back to design consultants, who will refine the suggestions into specific building codes. After that, public hearings will be conducted and the codes will be voted up or down by village trustees.

Despite the state of the economy and budget woes, Nilsen was optimistic.

"We want to see this come to fruition," he said. "This is about historic preservation and cultural identity. We want to capitalize on that."

Antioch resident Angela Schnieder said she believes her town has great potential.

"My husband and I take the train downtown and notice all the other villages who have really done a nice job with their downtown districts," she said. "I'm looking for beautification and efficiency for Antioch. We have a darling little town. I don't want to see it ignored."