County Farm master plan goes to Libertyville board
More than a year of debate over a master plan for Lake County's 172-acre campus in Libertyville could be nearing a conclusion, but it is expected to face resistance to the end.
The Libertyville Village Board at 8 p.m. Tuesday is scheduled to discuss the 20-year plan for the County Farm property north and west of Winchester Road and Milwaukee Avenue, which has met with continued scrutiny and questions from nearby residents.
With another big crowd expected, the location of the board meeting has been moved from village hall to the nearby Libertyville Civic Center, 135 West Church St.
“We're planning on a larger than normal turnout,” said John Spoden, the village's director of community development.
Several county functions, including the Winchester House nursing home, public works, sheriff, division of transportation and other uses long have operated on the site, which has been owned by the county since the Civil War era.
But when the Central Permit Facility, the county's newest structure there, was proposed a few years ago, the village required a master plan as part of the approval.
The initial public hearing was held in October 2010. Three more sessions, spanning many hours, concluded June 13 with a 5-1 recommendation by the plan commission to approve the measure, with several conditions.
As proposed, about 40 percent of the property would remain open space with the rest divided into eight development zones. One of those zones is along Milwaukee Avenue, where the Winchester House sits. A new facility is planned elsewhere on the property, and the site could be made available for commercial development.
Each zone has a list of permitted uses, although no specifics have been outlined.
That is the crux of the problem, residents say.
Under pressure from residents, the county dropped a jail or hospital as potential uses on the campus and have agreed that any 24-hour use in the northern part of the property would require a public hearing.
While questions remain about landscaping berms and lighting, residents say their chief beef is they won't have a say in a majority of what could be built if the plan is approved as submitted.
“We don't believe when you have a master plan that lacks specifics that village residents should be locked out of having a voice,” said Rick Marder, a spokesman for Citizens United for Health Development in Libertyville.
Residents would like to see any uses such as parole or probation offices and ex-offender rehab services, for example, be prohibited.
“At the very least, we would like to see everything be a special use,” Marder said.
That involves notification by certified notices to property owners within 250 feet and a public hearing rather than village board approval only.
Spoden said many uses already are permitted on the site under the village's zoning code for institutional buildings. Some of those permitted uses include: social services; justice, public order and safety; and, educational services.
“That seems to be the case. The residents don't think the zoning is appropriate for the site,” said Matt Guarnery, project manager for the county.
Residents have been working with the Citizen Advocacy Center, a not-for-profit group based in Elmhurst that helps citizens navigate such issues.
“They want their village trustees to help them create a master plan that has some definition to it that makes sense for the character of the community,” said Terry Pastika, the group's executive director.
About 100 emails, most of them the same, have been received by the village from residents opposing uses that may involve a “criminal element”, and asking officials to re-evaluate what is permitted.
“We're in favor of a master plan,” Marder said. “The problem is in the current state it's in, it doesn't work.”