They heard grand ideas, including unique efforts from as far away as Oregon and as close as Old Mill Creek, about preserving space and controlling development.
One speaker called for a moratorium on building on wetlands.
But some attending the Lake County Conservation Alliance’s first-ever countywide conference on suburban sprawl doubted whether local government officials would take radical stances against the pattern of development in the already-growing county.
“There’s a difference between knowing things and acting,” said Fran Sheldon, who has lived in the county 30 years. “I hope they understood that there are many citizens who are concerned about the way the county is being destroyed.”
Sheldon, who was at the recent conference on behalf of a group fighting to restore Slocum Lake in the western part of the county, said she feared development had gone unchecked for too long already.
“This is too little too late,” she said on her way out of the conference, noting the number of subdivisions and strip malls. “They sold us down the Fox River.”
The conference, held at the College of Lake County, drew approximately 200 officials and residents from the county. It featured speakers from the Openlands Project, Army Corps of Engineers, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC) and Sierra Club.
A representative from 1000 Friends of Oregon, an environmental group, detailed how Portland revitalized its downtown with projects such as tearing out a parking garage to create a city plaza and removing a highway to build a waterfront park.
Those at the conference also heard about efforts closer to home in Old Mill Creek, where officials have braced for growth with a unified development code and comprehensive plan that includes plans for a village-wide greenway system and strict subdivision guidelines.
Keynote speaker Jerry Adelmann, executive director of the Openlands Project, pointed out why Lake County officials need to hold such conferences: The county population is expected to grow by 60 percent by 2020. Of even greater concern, Adelmann said, is that development currently outpaces population growth by a vast amount.
That, several speakers pointed out, is a direct threat to wetlands and ecological systems, roads and open space.
“We’ve got to work regionally to deal with these issues,” said Adelmann, the keynote speaker. “We’ve got to broaden our horizons and not be constrained by political boundaries. . . . You can update your comprehensive plan and update your ordinances. It is not hopeless. You do have choices.”
Lake County right now is putting the finishing touches on a unified development ordinance, a document that should guide growth.
Several Lake County builders were in attendance, a sign to some that there really could be a unified approach to dealing with the growth.
Jim Schneider, a member of the Home Builder’s Association of Lake County, said he did not mind examining and updating zoning codes and ordinances so long as changes are well thought out.
“The tightening of the rules needs to make sense and be based on criteria not drawn from emotional argument,” he said.
Dennis Dreher, director of NIPC’s natural resources department, began the day with some suggestions on how to lessen the impact development has on wetlands.
For example, using native grasses for landscaping provides more natural drainage and cluster developments of homes help to preserve land needed for storm-water runoff.
