Frequently Asked Questions about the 2024 MLUP

The MLUP is a guiding document that serves as a vision for the future of land use on the North Central College campus. The MLUP includes:

• Identification of the College’s existing property and boundaries, including areas of campus that could be developed—or redeveloped—in the future.
• Identification of potential facility needs in the next decade and a broad vision for the future use of campus property.
• A recap of the College’s history of physical development, including lessons learned through past development.
• A summary of the College’s existing parking, vehicular and pedestrian traffic, sustainability, stormwater management, and arboretum plans.

The MLUP is not:

• A regulatory plan or zoning ordinance.
• An established timeline for new buildings.
• A map designating specific locations of future facility needs.

The MLUP is the product of close collaboration with the City of Naperville and serves as a guiding document that works within the regulations of the CUD Zoning Ordinance.

The 2024 MLUP is a routine update to the College’s previous MLUP, which was adopted by the City of Naperville in 2010. Each edition of the MLUP builds upon and replaces the previous plan. The College’s MLUP was first adopted by the City of Naperville in 1989 and routinely updated in 2000 and 2010. Upon adoption by the City, the 2024 MLUP will replace the College’s previous plan.

Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, College representatives met with students, faculty, staff, neighbors, City Staff, and City Council members. These conversations kept key constituents informed about the 2024 MLUP areas of focus, key topics, and completion timeline. It was important for the campus community, the surrounding neighborhood, and City officials to be given ample opportunity to learn about the MLUP and ask questions of College representatives. A table on the fourth page of the Executive Summary in the MLUP details the College’s constituent conversations.

The College formally submitted the 2024 MLUP to the City of Naperville on June 3, 2024. Additional steps include:

• The City’s Historic Preservation Commission will review the MLUP at their July 25 meeting and will make a non-binding recommendation to the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
• The City’s Planning and Zoning Commission will review the MLUP at their August 7 meeting and will make a non-binding recommendation to the City Council.
• City Council will review the MLUP at either their August 20 or September 3 meeting and will make the final decision regarding approval and adoption of the College’s MLUP.

The College has, since the creation of its first MLUP in 1989, updated its MLUP approximately every 10 years*. The MLUP can be updated/amended at any time with approval from the City of Naperville.

*Note that the College’s plans to update the MLUP in 2020 were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and by a presidential leadership transition.

In authoring the 2024 MLUP, the College has aligned with the City of Naperville’s most recent Land Use Master Plan and has not earmarked specific locations on the campus map for specific projects.

For example, the 2010 MLUP identified three potential sites on its campus that could become the College’s next science center. However, after conducting a more thorough study of the College’s property once the facility needs were determined, the College chose a site that was different than the three that had been identified in the MLUP. College representatives learned from that experience. Since the purpose of an MLUP

is to serve as a guide, it is more valuable for the College to broadly identify areas or zones on its campus that could be developed for future use, with the recognition that it is impossible to anticipate the future site of a facility before the facility details are known.

Similarly, the 2010 MLUP did not envision construction of the Wentz Center for Health Sciences and Engineering. However, the site where the 40,000-square-foot facility was built was identified in the MLUP for future development within the College’s existing boundaries. Therefore, the MLUP provided the guidelines necessary to proceed with planning the facility within the regulations set forth by the CUD Zoning Ordinance.

When it comes time to build a specific facility, the College will continue to follow the CUD Zoning Ordinance and applicable public processes. The College has a longstanding history and commitment to hosting regular neighbor meetings and distributing regular neighborhood communication, which will continue in the years ahead. The College also has a longstanding history of hosting special meetings and sharing additional communication with neighbors when it has decided to develop on its property. The College currently maintains a mailing list of approximately 1,000 addresses to which it delivers letters and invitations to neighbor meetings. Meeting attendance typically averages 15-25 people, depending upon the topic.