Northfielders have spoken. And they know what they want. Keep that small-town feeling, encourage walkability and ensure the environment’s protected, they say. But move away from character-less strip malls and big box retailers. And stop approving subdivisions full of cul-de-sacs. That information, and the opinions of an estimated 250 residents, are contained in a new report, Community Choices, documenting input obtained at an April 4 public meeting that was part of the city’s revision of its comprehensive plan. Input received from city leaders is also included in the report.

In the public meeting at the Armory, residents ranked the importance of topics including commercial and residential development, open space, environmentally sensitive areas and land use, as well as choosing which are their favorite and least favorite Northfield places.

The data will be used not only to help the city rewrite its comp plan, a document that guides development, but the zoning ordinances that regulate that development.

Jamie Greene, a consultant hired by the city to help rewrite the comp plan and accompanying ordinances, noticed several themes when compiling the data. “There’s some pretty strong ideas with respect to small-town character,” he said. “That’s a simple notion that can be pretty powerful.” Stewardship, Greene said, was another common theme. But the idea of stewardship, he said, wasn’t limited to protecting the natural resources, but maintaining “the qualities that make Northfield what it is.”

Those qualities, he said, include the city’s two colleges (Carleton and St. Olaf), its historic downtown, unique architecture and its geographical location. Greene also said respondents prefer neighborhoods over subdivisions.

Subdivisions are self-contained, homogenous places, he said, whereas neighborhoods connect to other neighborhoods, parks and shopping, and provide a variety of housing choices.

Northfielders also appreciate and want to preserve the rural areas surrounding town, Greene said, though as a whole they’re not against growth per se. Attendees said they want growth that strengthens the community and its small-town character.

They want Northfield to remain a “place where it’s comfortable to walk around,” he said, “where form and character are sort of timeless instead of corporate.”

Greene also noted that residents’ opinions weren’t collected just to form a report. They’re being used - and will continue to be used. A second public meeting to review the report and the next steps in formulating the comp plan is set for Tuesday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at the Armory.

City Planner Dan Olson, who’s helping lead the comp plan revision, said the meeting will include a short presentation on the report’s findings and discussion on development principles expected to be adopted by the city’s planning commission next week.

The report can be obtained online at northfieldplan.org, at the Northfield Library or by calling Olson at 645-3056.