Land Use
Regional planning should seek to maximize production and protection of ecosystem services in the region while allowing for economic growth and development. Increased ecosystem functioning will improve the region’s ability to sustain the environmental impacts of urban centers, agriculture, industry, and climate change.
Natural lands and working farms can both provide ecosystem services, which include flood control, groundwater recharge, water quality, carbon storage, habitat, and habitat connectivity. In addition, agriculture is an important piece of the regional economy and of great importance to residents. Given the extent of farmland in the region, its overall contribution to ecosystem services is substantial. Planning should ensure “space on the map” for these land uses in the future. The conservation of these lands should be strategically located to protect ecologically sensitive areas like floodplains, brownfields, and Sensitive Aquifer Recharge Areas (SARA) which are best conserved as native ecosystems.
Planning & Zoning
Both natural and agricultural lands provide ecosystem services and a suite of other benefits to residents. Planning efforts should plot a future that reserves space for these land uses and prioritizes them alongside development and economic growth.
Quantifying ecosystem services in dollars may be useful to leaders and planners as they make land use decisions.
A holistic approach to planning should encourage compact, conservation-oriented development and redevelopment located near existing infrastructure. The ultimate goal of such a strategy is to maximizing ecosystem services by preserving open spaces and increasing the ability of the built environment to provide ecosystem services as well.
A comprehensive list of natural resources should be required as part the development approval process and have the ability to trigger conservation design requirements.
Compact development such as conservation subdivisions and multi-unit dwellings should be fostered and encouraged with financial incentives, and zoning requirements.
The cost of expanding and long-term maintenance of infrastructure and services should be factored into development decisions.
The effect on and associated costs of new development on traffic patterns should also be considered.
Plans should identify flood-prone land and include strategies to minimize current and future damage to property and the economy and to capitalize on the ability of natural land to provide flood control services.
Plans should recommend riparian buffers in key locations that will allow industry, agriculture, and development to operate and grow while easing their effects on water quality, recreation, and habitat fragmentation.
The built environment can impact natural and agricultural lands outside of the developed footprint. The associated increases in impervious cover, affect hydrology, water quality, and flooding, and can intensify habitat fragmentation and the spread of invasive species. These impacts should be minimized through conservation design and zoning.
Policies, laws, and ordinances governing zoning and development as well as the associated enforcement mechanisms should be reviewed and strengthened accordingly. This review should include land use and transportation systems. Potential jurisdictional issues should be identified and addressed.
Ecosystem Services
Regional planning should serve as a playbook to coordinate the protection of natural lands by public agencies, nonprofits, and private landowners, allowing a patchwork of natural lands to work in concert, across jurisdictional boundaries, to provide ecosystem services and create large ecological complexes and habitat corridors in the process.
Plans should prioritize natural areas for conservation based on their ability to perform ecosystem services and should be guided by local expertise and ecological surveys. Prioritization should also consider environmental equity and community needs, and stakeholders should be involved throughout the planning process.
Regional plans should explore greenways as tool to improve water resource protection and environmental and economic equity across the region.
Utility right-of-ways should be restored and maintained as natural lands to provide ecosystem services and habitat connectivity.
Privately-owned natural lands make up a significant portion of the region’s natural lands. If protected and properly managed, they can contribute to the region’s ecosystem functioning and climate resiliency. Landowner outreach should be part of the strategy to conserve natural lands. Outreach and education should aim to facilitate the restoration and protection of natural lands.
Large landowners like golf courses, subdivisions, forestland, and campuses should be prioritized. The IL Nature Preserves Commission, conservation easements, IL Forestry Development Program, and IL Conservation Stewardship Program offer lower property tax assessments on property that includes natural areas and can provide a financial incentive for conservation.
Agricultural land often contains high quality remnant ecosystems. Acquisitions of farmland and easements can help protect these remnants, which can provide habitat connectivity, while keeping the rest of the farm in operation. Easement agreements should require that land remain as remnant ecosystem so that it continues to provide a high level of ecosystem service and habitat.
Innovative funding strategies that leverage public-private partnerships should be explored to establish permanently protected natural areas in strategic locations.
Programs that allow industry to purchase open space or development rights to offset pollution or meet pollution reduction goals should be explored.
Municipalities can establish and use conservation or water preservation land banks to protect and restore ecologically sensitive lands like ground water recharge areas, floodplains, and brownfields.
The Regional Conservation Partnership Program allows agricultural producers to partner with conservation organizations to create easements that permanently protect natural areas providing ecosystem services.
Land use plans should include land for agriculture and strategies that preserve the rural character of the region and the ability of farm operations to flourish and grow in the future by discouraging nearby land uses that would disturb farms. Ordinances, zoning, and design measures that prevent conflict between producers and rural subdivisions, like buffers and thoughtful road design, should be employed to limit nuisance complaints and disruptions to farm operations.
Farmland in production that is wet, highly erodible, or otherwise subprime should be ushered into alternative uses that also allow the land to provide a higher degree of ecosystem service. Markets that pay for ecosystem service outcomes can make this transition financially beneficial for producers. In many markets, land that has been restored to a natural state will provide a higher degree of ecosystem service and be more profitable.
Permanent conversion of prime farmland to a natural state should only be considered where prime farmland is in the immediate vicinity of high-priority natural features.
Forest preserves are prohibited from raising funds for agricultural land acquisition and are frequently unable to meet state and federal grant match requirements when purchasing easements or property. Non-governmental organizations, like conservation land trusts, may best be suited for these efforts. Alternatively, counties might consider a dedicated revenue source for conservation easement programs on agricultural land that will allow them to match state and federal grants. The Kane County Farmland Protection Program is a prime example.