McHenry Co. land plan expected to win approval
McHenry County leaders worked late into the night Tuesday hashing out the final details on the county's first comprehensive land use plan in 17 years, expected to finally win approval more than a decade after officials first set out to replace the existing plan.
The proposed 2030 Comprehensive Plan, if passed, will serve as a nonbinding guide to county leaders as they contemplate development, water protection and land management issues for the next 20 years.
County board members opened debate on the plan Tuesday after hearing more than an hour of public comment on the 149-page document, much of it urging them to either reject the plan or approve it only after significant changes.
The plan has been criticized in recent weeks, particularly by local conservation groups who say it does not do enough to preserve open space and water supplies, and gives up too much to development and business interests.
"It has far too many contradictions," said McHenry resident Kim Willis. "I don't think it does enough to protect farmland and water from overconsumption and contamination."
Members of the Regional Planning Commission that authored the document defended its position on protecting water and open space, saying the plan strikes a fair balance between conversation and development.
"As an environmentalist, it would be nice if the environment won on everything as I wished, but I also know that compromise is necessary in life and to move government along," commission member Nancy Schietzelt said.
"This plan has some of the strongest language in groundwater and recharge area protection of any long-range plan in the region," added commission Vice Chairman Dennis Dreher.
Among the plan's key components is a "Land First" approach to development that requires consideration of a site's natural ecology, features and functions when making land-use decisions and conversation-friendly design for subdivisions.
Much of the board debate Tuesday night centered around changes intended to strengthen the language of the plan, replacing terms like "discourage" with "prohibit" or "prevent."
"It's important that we send a message that we really mean business about protecting groundwater," board member Virginia Peschke said.
County officials were in similar spot four years ago when similar complaints ultimately derailed their proposed 2020 Unified Plan. After spending seven years and hundreds of thousands of dollars developing that plan, the board voted 11-11 on the proposal, effectively killing it and forcing officials to start from scratch with the 2030 plan.
To view the plan, visit www.mchenrycounty2030plan.com.