McHenry County Green Team Asks for Friday Comments on County’s 2030 Plan

Here’s a press release from a group I have not heard of before, the McHenry County Green Team:

YOUR COUNTY PLAN COMMISSION NEEDS YOUR INPUT!

The McHenry County Green Team encourages all residents to read the proposed 2030 Land Use Plan.

Copies are available at the County Planning and Development office and on line at www.mchenrycounty2030plan.com.

Comments on the draft plan can be submitted via email to 2030plan@co.mchenry.il.us or in writing to McHenry County 2030 Plan, Department of Planning and Development, McHenry County Government Center, 2200 North Seminary Avenue, Woodstock, IL 60098.

All comments must be received by 4:30 PM, Friday, July 10, 2009.

“If the average resident would just get a copy and read this plan, they would be shocked,” says Green Team member Joyce Kunath.

The plan currently encourages dramatic residential, industrial, and commercial growth in unincorporated areas.

This kind of growth plan is not only destructive to the very resources that sustain us, but will be expensive to support.

“No land use plan should require existing residents to subsidize future residents,” says Green Team member Joe Daleiden.

McHenry County Green Team Members attended several sessions of the recent McHenry County Regional Planning Commission presentation of the Plan.

“We are encouraged by the priorities of most participants in these meetings,” stated Green Team member Patricia Kennedy.

“But substantial changes must be made to conform the plan to these priorities. Residents want to keep the rural feel of the unincorporated western county, preserving farmland and open space and protecting our water supply. These are the same priorities in the results of the Imagine McHenry County Survey done in 2006.”

Green Team member Michelle Kuhlman adds,

“encouraging development without first knowing the long-term sustainable water availability is a prescription for disaster. Without sufficient water McHenry County real estate will become almost worthless.”

Green Team member Rich Brook summed it up saying,

“Long term sustainable agricultural land is a prime prerequisite to survival of the species. There could be almost three billion more persons in the world by the middle of this century and the United States is one of only a few areas in the world with a significant (but shrinking) agricultural surplus. In the near future, farmland will be more valuable as farmland than as developed land.”

At least one County Board member at the Plan Commission’s Tuesday sessions agreed that water is a priority resource and the plan needs changes.

For more information about the McHenry County Green Team email us at mchenrycountygreenteam@yahoo.com.

McHenry County Green Team, Patricia Kennedy, Official Spokesperson, 815-943-7223, kishvalleywater@yahoo.com, Mail: ALAW, PO Box 1021, Woodstock, IL 60098


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