| |
Project Description/Status
(March 2006)
Will County has retained Duncan Associates, a planning and growth
management consulting firm that specializes in the revision of land
development regulations, to assist in updating the county’s
subdivision regulations.
The
beginning stages of the subdivision ordinance project have been
spent learning and listening. The consultant team has reviewed the
Land Resource Management Plan and conducted an initial
assessment of the county’s existing subdivision ordinance and
related development regulations. The team has also conducted a
series of listening sessions to obtain information about the
county’s current subdivision ordinance and discuss ways in which it
might be improved.
During the fall of 2005,
the team talked with approximately 40 internal and external
stakeholders in six different small-group sessions. The participants
included a variety of individuals and groups with a working
knowledge of the county’s development regulations and processes,
including:
-
county Highway Department staff,
-
county Land Use Department staff,
-
developers and builders,
-
Township Highway Commissioners,
-
consulting engineers and planners,
-
municipal planners, and
-
public interest groups.
General Project
Goals
Based on what the team has heard and learned so far, it seems that
the general goals or “big ideas” for the subdivision ordinance
update project can be boiled down to a fairly short list:
-
ensure implementation of and consistency with the county’s Land
Resource Management Plan;
-
promote conservation subdivision design and other best practices
through the removal of regulatory and procedural barriers and
through new/updated standards and procedures;
-
make the new ordinance as attractive, well-organized and as
user-friendly as possible;
-
make the subdivision plat approval process as clear and efficient
as possible; and
-
clean-up and technical revisions as necessary to update and
improve outmoded standards and remove internal and external
inconsistencies that may exist among various development-related
ordinances.
-
eliminate conflicts among the existing subdivision ordinance and
other county regulations, including the zoning and water resources
ordinances;
-
include references to preferred, up-to-date engineering and design
specifications for roadways and other engineering-related
improvements; and
-
ensure that the county’s subdivision regulations and plat
procedures are consistent with statutory and case law.
Issues
Report
Duncan Associates has prepared an initial assessment of major issues
to be addressed in the updated Will County ordinance. This report,
which is intended to form the conceptual framework for the county’s
new subdivision ordinance, was presented to the County Board’s Land
Use, Planning and Development Committee on March 1, 2006. It is
available for download at
http://www.duncanplan.com/willcounty/report/subrptdraft.pdf .
(If you are unable to open the document, you may need to download
the most recent Adobe Acrobat Reader
here.)
More Information
Check this site (www.duncanplan.com/willcounty) for periodic updates on the
project’s status. In the meantime, please contact Will County
planner Colin Duesing
(cduesing@willcountylanduse.com)
with any questions or comments.
(Back to Top)
|
|
