The Kane County Board voted unanimously at the May meeting to adopt what is being generally recognized in the Chicago region as a ground-breaking county planning effort that, for the first time in Illinois, integrates health, transportation and land-use planning.

Adoption of the Kane County 2040 Plan marked the culmination of nearly two years of preparatory under the direction of the Kane County Regional Planning Commission with the overarching theme of “Healthy People, Healthy Living and Healthy Communities.”

The Plan is an update of Kane County’s 2030 Plan and continues what was described by County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay as a rich history of more than 50 years of creative, cutting-edge planning and county and municipal cooperation.
“This is a very important document not just to the county but to the region,” said McConnaughay. “It is a tribute to the dedication of our municipalities and our citizens to an open discussion about the future, and is testament to the lasting, cooperative planning relationships that have been forged in Kane County. It is a standout within the region for its cooperative effort,” she said.
“Part of our Quality of Kane initiative, the 2040 Plan focuses on strengthening the prized qualities of Kane County, the shared values of our residents and the health of our children. Continued, broad-based participation in the Plan’s implementation goals will be critical to maintaining the quality of life that we have come to cherish,” said McConnaughay.
“According to Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) Executive Director Randy Blankenhorn, the 2040 Plan’s integration of health, transportation and land use places Kane County at the leading edge of planning in the region and what he described as ‘the most effective way to plan for the future,'” she said.
The 2040 Plan is based on 12 recommendations in the 2040 Conceptual Land Use Strategy Report that was prepared by the Regional Planning Commission and confirmed by the County Board last October.
Among other things, it introduces three new land-use categories to emphasize healthy community design: urban neighborhoods/mixed-use infill; commerce/employment; and protected agriculture/limited development.
It also provides a restatement of why open space protection, greenway implementation and water management should serve as three primary goals in the development of the land-use, transportation, municipal development and public facility elements.
It reaffirms the general goal of the 2030 Plan that, by 2040, at least 50 percent of the land in Kane County should still be in farmland and open space uses.
The agricultural objectives of the 2030 Plan, including protective land strategies that discourage premature conversion of farmland, are expanded and reinforced.