Vision & Goals

Mokena aims to preserve its small-town charm while accommodating sustainable growth.

The Village seeks to enhance the quality of life by promoting economic development, maintaining green spaces and forest preserves, and ensuring efficient public services.

Goals

Sustainable Growth: Encourage new development that balances residential, commercial, and industrial uses within our town’s borders.
Economic Vitality: Attract diverse and unique businesses to expand our local economy and provide our residents with access to quality establishments in their own backyards- starting in Mokena’s downtown.
Quality of Life: Team up with our Park District and School District to enhance recreational facilities, promote educational opportunities, maintain high standards for schools, and most importantly, ensure public safety.

Land Use & Zoning

Residential Areas: Promote a variety of housing options for current and future residents.
Commercial Zones: Develop commercial corridors along roads like 191st, focusing on retail, dining, and professional services.
Industrial Parks: Designate areas of the village for light industrial and office parks, providing job opportunities and expanding the tax base.
Open Spaces: Preserve and enhance parks, trails, and natural areas such as Hickory Creek Forest Preserve and Yunker’s Farm ensuring residents have access to recreational activities and green spaces.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Traffic Study: Ensures we are being proactive and staying ahead of the growth that we expect to happen, preventing gridlock before it becomes a major problem. Without one, Mokena risks serious congestion like bottlenecking, potential unsafe roads, and missed funding opportunities for necessary improvements as we plan for future growth.
Roadways: Improve and maintain major thoroughfares, including Wolf Road, LaPorte Road, and LaGrange to handle increasing traffic and ensure safety.
Public Transit: Collaborate with Metra to enhance commuter rail services at the Mokena stations, promoting public transportation use.
Bicycle & Pedestrian Paths: Expand bike lanes and sidewalks to create a connected and safe network for non-motorized travel within Mokena and our surrounding towns.
Utilities: Continue to upgrade our new water, sewer, and stormwater systems to meet the demands of a growing population and to prevent flooding.

Housing & Community Development

Senior Living: Support the construction of senior housing communities, allowing residents to age in an enjoyable, safe, vibrant place.
Neighborhood Revitalization: Invest in older neighborhoods to update infrastructure, improve aesthetics, landscaping, and maintain property values.

Economic Development

Business Attraction: Offer incentives for businesses to establish operations in Mokena, such as TIF (Tax Increment Financing) programs.
Downtown Enhancement: Revitalize the downtown area with streetscape improvements, façade upgrades, and support for local businesses to create a vibrant community hub. This includes bike trails, and pedestrian walkways that lead to a walkable downtown.
Tourism Promotion: Highlight local attractions such as Food Trucks, Farmer’s Markets, events like 4th of July, and historical sites to draw visitors and boost the local economy.

Environmental & Sustainability Policies

Urban Forestry: Maintain and expand the village’s tree canopy, building upon Mokena’s recognition as a Tree City USA for over 19 years.
Green Building: Encourage new developments to adopt energy-efficient designs and sustainable materials.

Public Safety & Emergency Planning

Police & Fire Services: Continued emphasis and support of our police and fire departments-ensuring they are adequately staffed, trained, and equipped to respond to emergencies promptly.
Disaster Preparedness: Continue to develop and regularly update emergency response plans for natural disasters, health crises, and other emergencies.
Community Policing: Foster strong relationships between law enforcement and residents to enhance trust and cooperation.

Community Facilities & Public Services

Parks & Recreation: Implement the 2019-2023 Comprehensive Master Plan developed by the Mokena Community Park District, which outlines goals for recreational facilities and programs.
Educational Institutions: Collaborate with local school districts to ensure that educational facilities can accommodate growing student populations and provide quality education.
Library Services: Support the expansion of library resources and programs to meet the community’s informational and cultural needs.

Implementation & Funding

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP): Develop a CIP that prioritizes infrastructure projects, allocates funding, and sets timelines for completion.
Funding Sources: Explore grants, public-private partnerships, and local revenue options to finance projects outlined in the comprehensive plan.
Community Engagement: Encourage resident participation in the planning process through public meetings, surveys, and workshops to ensure the plan reflects the community’s desires.

Tax plan: Continue to offer high quality services and improvements without raising taxes on Mokena residents

Increase Sales tax revenue by attracting new and unique businesses to Mokena
Efficient Budgeting and Spending: Require expenses to be reviewed often to eliminate waste and unnecessary spending. Reinvest sales tax revenue into other revenue generating endeavors that become long-term appreciating assets.
Reduce operational costs within the village by seeking more energy efficient systems or resources such as geothermal technology.
Collaborate with both private and public developers to find creative and innovative ways of improvement that won’t increase the taxpayer’s burden but will actually reduce it, such as State or Federal Grants and rebates.

Vision & Goals

Mokena aims to preserve its small-town charm while accommodating sustainable growth.

The Village seeks to enhance the quality of life by promoting economic development, maintaining green spaces and forest preserves, and ensuring efficient public services.

Goals

Sustainable Growth: Encourage new development that balances residential, commercial, and industrial uses within our town’s borders.

Economic Vitality: Attract diverse and unique businesses to expand our local economy and provide our residents with access to quality establishments in their own backyards- starting in Mokena’s downtown.

Quality of Life: Team up with our Park District and School District to enhance recreational facilities, promote educational opportunities, maintain high standards for schools, and most importantly, ensure public safety.

Land Use & Zoning

Residential Areas: Promote a variety of housing options for current and future residents.

Commercial Zones: Develop commercial corridors along roads like 191st, focusing on retail, dining, and professional services.

Industrial Parks: Designate areas of the village for light industrial and office parks, providing job opportunities and expanding the tax base.

Open Spaces: Preserve and enhance parks, trails, and natural areas such as Hickory Creek Forest Preserve and Yunker’s Farm ensuring residents have access to recreational activities and green spaces.

Transportation & Infrastructure

Roadways: Improve and maintain major thoroughfares, including Wolf Road, LaPorte Road, and LaGrange to handle increasing traffic and ensure safety.

Public Transit: Collaborate with Metra to enhance commuter rail services at the Mokena stations, promoting public transportation use.

Bicycle & Pedestrian Paths: Expand bike lanes and sidewalks to create a connected and safe network for non-motorized travel within Mokena and our surrounding towns.

Utilities: Continue to upgrade our new water, sewer, and stormwater systems to meet the demands of a growing population and to prevent flooding.

Housing & Community Development

Senior Living: Support the construction of senior housing communities, allowing residents to age in an enjoyable, safe, vibrant place.

Neighborhood Revitalization: Invest in older neighborhoods to update infrastructure, improve aesthetics, landscaping, and maintain property values.

Economic Development

Business Attraction: Offer incentives for businesses to establish operations in Mokena, such as TIF (Tax Increment Financing) programs.

Downtown Enhancement: Revitalize the downtown area with streetscape improvements, façade upgrades, and support for local businesses to create a vibrant community hub. This includes bike trails, and pedestrian walkways that lead to a walkable downtown.

Tourism Promotion: Highlight local attractions such as Food Trucks, Farmer’s Markets, events like 4th of July, and historical sites to draw visitors and boost the local economy.

Environmental & Sustainability Policies

Urban Forestry: Maintain and expand the village’s tree canopy, building upon Mokena’s recognition as a Tree City USA for over 19 years.

Green Building: Encourage new developments to adopt energy-efficient designs and sustainable materials.

Public Safety & Emergency Planning

Police & Fire Services: Continued emphasis and support of our police and fire departments-ensuring they are adequately staffed, trained, and equipped to respond to emergencies promptly.

Disaster Preparedness: Continue to develop and regularly update emergency response plans for natural disasters, health crises, and other emergencies.

Community Policing: Foster strong relationships between law enforcement and residents to enhance trust and cooperation.

Community Facilities & Public Services

Parks & Recreation: Implement the 2019-2023 Comprehensive Master Plan developed by the Mokena Community Park District, which outlines goals for recreational facilities and programs.

Educational Institutions: Collaborate with local school districts to ensure that educational facilities can accommodate growing student populations and provide quality education.

Library Services: Support the expansion of library resources and programs to meet the community’s informational and cultural needs.

Implementation & Funding

Capital Improvement Plan (CIP): Develop a CIP that prioritizes infrastructure projects, allocates funding, and sets timelines for completion.

Funding Sources: Explore grants, public-private partnerships, and local revenue options to finance projects outlined in the comprehensive plan.

Community Engagement: Encourage resident participation in the planning process through public meetings, surveys, and workshops to ensure the plan reflects the community’s desires.

Tax plan: Continue to offer high quality services and improvements without raising taxes on Mokena residents

Increase Sales tax revenue by attracting new and unique businesses to Mokena

Efficient Budgeting and Spending: Require expenses to be reviewed often to eliminate waste and unnecessary spending. Reinvest sales tax revenue into other revenue generating endeavors that become long-term appreciating assets.

Reduce operational costs within the village by seeking more energy efficient systems or resources such as geothermal technology.

Collaborate with both private and public developers to find creative and innovative ways of improvement that won’t increase the taxpayer’s burden but will actually reduce it, such as State or Federal Grants and rebates.