Lake County, Illinois is committed to promoting a sustainable environment that enhances its vitality and residents' quality of life. Lake County has demonstrated this commitment by adopting the promotion of a sustainable environment as one of the County's strategic goals, and its work toward that goal has already included initiatives to increase energy efficiency, promote sustainable building practices, reduce waste, and perform water supply planning.

Located between Cook County, Illinois and the Wisconsin state border, Lake County benefits from an abundance of natural assets. Its strengths include over 29,000 acres of open space in the Lake County Forest Preserve District, as well as Lake Michigan along the County's eastern border. Now, with help from CMAP's Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, the County is building on its past efforts to create a Sustainability Chapter amendment to the Lake County Regional Framework Plan.

This Sustainability Chapter will reflect the goals set forth in the Regional Framework Plan, advancing the County's strategic goal of promoting a sustainable environment. The planning process has been formulated to involve County officials and staff, municipal representatives, and other stakeholders, ensuring that the end product reflects the interests of the County as a whole. The Sustainability Chapter will offer policy recommendations to help the County achieve its sustainability goals, and will cover topics such as land use and development, transportation, water, waste, energy, open space, economic development, and more. The intent of the Sustainability Chapter is to guide decision-making in order to help Lake County realize its vision for a sustainable future.

 

Community Engagement

Municipal officials, community stakeholders, and the public in Lake County will have opportunities throughout the project to contribute to the Sustainability Chapter.

The first occasion for stakeholder input occurred on Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at a public meeting held at the Lake County Central Permit Facility in Libertyville. Participants learned about the proposed topics for the Sustainability Chapter, and also shared their thoughts about the strengths and opportunities for improvement in Lake County.

Check back for upcoming stakeholder meeting dates in 2013!

 

Contacts

David Husemoller, Senior Planner, Lake County Planning, Building, & Development Department (DHusemoller@lakecountyil.gov or 847-377-2151)

Jessica Simoncelli, CMAP Community Outreach Associate (jsimoncelli@cmap.illinois.gov or 312-386-8631)

For more on the project and upcoming events, you can follow CMAP's Twitter feed at @GOTO2040 for the latest updates.