The natural resources of northeastern Illinois represent one of its fundamental assets. Urban development has numerous complex impacts on the region’s air, water, land, and wildlife, with both environmental and economic consequences. As part of its mission to integrate planning of land use and transportation, CMAP takes a comprehensive approach designed to help preserve these precious resources for future generations.
CMAP works with partners such as the Openlands Project, Chicago Wilderness, and others across the seven counties of metropolitan Chicago to help protect the environment, which is vitally important to the region's quality of life and economic prosperity. CMAP staff expertise and activities include:
CMAP's most prominent natural-resources activity to date has been to form and coordinate the Regional Water Supply Planning Group (RWSPG) for an expanded 11-county area of northeastern Illinois. Funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the RWSPG is integral to a three-year regional planning effort to forecast water demand, gauge the possibility of shortages, and identify solutions in Fall 2009.
Mapping of Wetlands. CMAP has worked with several counties to inventory and map their high-quality wetlands. A project sponsored by Chicago Wilderness has developed a wetlands conservation strategy using GIS-based modeling techniques. CMAP staff have developed model ordinances on wetland and stream preservation have been adopted by many of the region's local governments.
Best Practices for Sensible Development. CMAP staff members have developed manuals of best practices for natural landscaping and conservation design. These are directed primarily at local officials, though private developers and landowners may also benefit from them. The conservation design manual includes model ordinance language needed to incorporate or allow conservation design elements in current subdivision and zoning codes.
Sustainable Development (return to top)
Sustainable Development Principles for Protecting Nature in the Chicago Wilderness Region. This six-page brochure presents eight principles to help guide local governments and developers in the planning and design of new development and redevelopment projects to protect and enhance nature as an integral part of the development process. Rather than present technical and how-to information, the brochure presents concise descriptions of principles and general ways to implement them. The principles include: infill, compact and contiguous development and redevelopment where infrastructure exists; planning to locate development to minimize impact to natural resources; enhance streams, wetlands and lakes for habitat, recreation and aesthetics; protect and connect open space; manage stormwater and water resources wisely; minimize changes to natural landscape conditions and features; actively manage natural areas; and consider social and economic impacts of development decisions. (Click here for more information.)
Sensible Tools for Healthy Communities. This decision-making workbook for local officials, developers, and community leaders is designed to help communities assess development information presented to them and make the right decision based on the overall merits of the request in the context of the community’s needs. The workbook includes worksheets that planning or zoning commissioners can customize with community data. In five areas—comprehensive plans, annexation, zoning, subdivisions, and site planning—the workbook describes the typical decision-making situation and offers questions to ask the applicant or developer, questions to ask regarding community reaction and consultation, and questions for discussion among public officials. It also presents guidance for ways to improve projects to meet the community’s objectives for development and better achieve sensible growth outcomes. (Click here for more information.)
Building Sustainable Communities Series and the Sustainable Development Guidebook. The Building Sustainable Communities Series is a set of 14 factsheets that introduce the philosophy of sustainable development and 13 principles and practices that local governments can use to create more sustainable communities. Practices include agricultural land preservation, air quality protection and improvement, building green infrastructure, community character and historic preservation, conservation development, creating livable communities, energy efficiency and green buildings, reusing built environments, strengthening local economies, sustainable sites and natural landscapes, transit-oriented development, water resource protection, and workforce housing. Each factsheet briefly describes the practice and why it is important, presents ideas for implementing the practice, provides stories of successful practice implementation, and a list of resources for finding more information. The Sustainable Development Guidebook is a richly illustrated summary of the Building Sustainable Communities series of factsheets, with some additional photos and case studies. (Click here for more information.)
Beyond Brownfields Sustainable Development. This report summarizes ideas generated during a one-day design workshop to create a long-term vision for the Fox River waterfront near downtown Aurora that currently includes a brownfield, commercial uses, and park land. This project was initiated and funded by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and coordinated by the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission. Workshop lead and facilitation was provided by Farr Associates with assistance from Teska Associates, Tetra Tech EMI, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology. The Aurora Regional Fire Museum generously provided the facilities for the workshop. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the funding agencies. (Click here to download the report.)
Natural Landscaping (return to top)
Source Book on Natural Landscaping for Local Officials. This handbook for local government officials, land owners, and citizens (and others involved with landscaping) is intended to guide them in implementing natural landscaping. The handbook explains the basic principles and benefits of natural landscaping; demonstrates the feasibility of using natural landscaping successfully in the region; provides information regarding the ways that local officials as community leaders can encourage the use of natural landscaping; identifies ways to avoid pitfalls that could result in poorly implemented natural landscaping; describes tools and techniques (the "how to" of natural landscaping) including follow-up maintenance; presents case studies; and provides direction to other sources of information and expertise. The handbook also provides plant lists, sample ordinances to allow natural landscaping, a single page fact sheet on natural landscaping, Illinois EPA burning permit information, and installation and maintenance costs. (Click here for more information.)
Natural Landscaping for Public Officials: Design and Management Guidelines. This guidebook promotes natural landscaping to key groups and property owners and those responsible for planning and undertaking landscaping activities. The guidebook introduces installation and maintenance considerations to those who have chosen to install a natural landscape to ensure the integrity of the original design intent. The guide presents proper site assessment and design, plant selection, site preparation, plant installation, long term maintenance techniques, and information on controlling invasive plants and weeds. Sources of plant materials and installation specifications and details are presented. This guide is a companion to and expands on installation and maintenance techniques described in Natural Landscaping for Local Officials: A Source Book. (Click here for more information.)
Conservation Design (return to top)
Conservation Design Resource Manual: Language and Guidelines for Updating Local Ordinances. This manual presents model ordinance language and guidelines to help communities effectively update local plans and ordinances to be more amenable to conservation design practices for protecting natural resources in new and existing developments. Examples include providing buffers for wetlands and streams, minimizing the amount of impervious surfaces, and clustering home sites together to preserve more open space. The lack of such guidance is commonly cited as the principle constraint to permitting good conservation designs in many communities. The manual explains and presents the economic benefits of conservation design; explains how to update comprehensive plans, zoning ordinances, subdivision ordinances, and other ordinances; and presents principles and practices for implementing conservation design. Principles and practices covered include: lot size and density, arrangement of development lots, building setbacks, natural area protection, natural landscape preservation, natural landscaping, natural area management, road design, parking lot design, vegetated swales, walkways and driveways, and managing stormwater. The manual also provides some information on incentives and financing conservation design. (Click here for an executive summary, or here for the full report.)
Changing Cost Perceptions: An Analysis of Conservation Development. This analysis provides communities, planners, developers, and builders with comparisons of the economic costs of designing and building conservation versus conventional developments, primarily as it relates to stormwater management practices. The objective is to help these audiences understand that the costs of conservation development practices, which are perceived to be higher than those of conventional development practices, are often competitive to conventional development and in a number of cases result in significant cost savings for the developer. The study examines real world developments as well as hypothetical developments. The study assesses costs associated with a variety of practices including: site preparation (clearing and grading); lot clustering; stormwater, sewer, and water supply infrastructure installation and maintenance; landscaping installation and maintenance; and paving (roads and sidewalks). Examples of cost savings for conservation practices: $3700 per lot in Mill Creek (primarily from stormwater management construction costs and site preparation); $2500 to $3300 per lot in a Bielinski Homes development (stormwater management construction); $1,375,000 overall savings ($2000 per acre) in Prairie Crossing (stormwater management, curb and gutter, paving, sidewalks, and landscaping); and $3900 per acre for the Tellabs campus in Naperville (site preparation.) (Click here for more information.)
Conservation Development in Practice. This guidebook on conservation development is intended to illustrate design principles, best management practices, and site design strategies for conservation development and is directed towards those making development and design decisions. Conservation development relies on a more distributed stormwater management approach that utilizes the entire landscape to mimic natural hydrologic processes. The guidebook illustrates the impact and interrelated nature of conservation design at the site, subdivision, municipal, and watershed scale. It also presents the benefits and cost implications of using practices such as cluster design, green roofs, bioswales and raingardens, native landscaping, permeable paving, infiltration techniques, and naturalized detention basin design. The guide also presents conservation design templates side-by-side with conventional designs and a conservation design checklist for watershed, municipal, neighborhood, and individual landowner scales. (Click here for more information.)
Blackberry Creek Alternative Futures Project. This project compares conservation and conventional site designs and evaluates their impact on biological health, protection of aquatic habitat, and impacts on flooding and streambank erosion at the site and watershed scale. The project presents the benefits of using viable, conservation-oriented options to municipalities and counties making development, site design, and land use decisions. This project has three components: model site design templates to protect water resources; a conservation-based land use scenario for the Blackberry Creek watershed to protect water resources; and an assessment of the hydrologic impact of conservation site designs. Results indicate that using conservation design techniques results in improved hydrology and physical and biological conditions in streams and wetlands. The project report presents graphic model site conservation design development templates for commercial / industrial uses, three densities of residential use, agriculture, and sites containing streams and wetlands. The project also reports basic statistics regarding lot size and other site details, and the results of the stormwater modeling used to evaluate the difference in runoff response between the templates. The following practices were used in the conservation design templates and described in detail regarding definitions, applicability, benefits, and design considerations: planning and zoning (conservation development, open space and natural greenways), stormwater best management practices (bioswales, filter strips and level spreaders, green roofs, naturalized detention, porous pavement, rain barrels and cisterns, rainwater gardens, and vegetated swales), and native landscaping. The project concludes that using combinations of these practices can reduce stream flashiness, low flows, and flooding at the site and watershed level. (Click here for more information.)
Blackberry Creek Watershed Alternative Futures Fiscal Impact Study. This project analyzes fiscal impacts of planned development within the Blackberry Creek watershed under two alternative development scenarios (conventional versus conservation design practices as described in the Blackberry Creek Watershed Alternative Futures Analysis) for the municipalities in the watershed. Between the two alternatives analyzed, conventional development imposes a higher public cost (greater fiscal impact) than conservation development. Development following conservation design principles is more cost effective for a community because fewer resources are required to support service delivery to, and infrastructure for, natural areas which are preserved under the conservation scenario. The study also found that in order to realize the greatest potential public cost savings, the clustering of development should be focused in a compact and contiguous form locating development contiguous to existing development and infrastructure as possible. (Click here for more information.)