The Land Conservancy
of McHenry County
"Preserving Land Forever"

Conservation Design for Developers

As more local governments adopt conservation design standards that require natural resource preservation, TLC is fielding more inquiries from developers who would like our feedback on their project designs – or who just want to know if we would accept a conservation easement on their open space areas as well as long term management for those areas.

The Land Conservancy has worked with developers and communities on various subdivision projects that incorporate conservation land as well as long-term management of that land. Through the years, we have started to realize that there are several key elements to a site design from a long-term natural resource sustainability standpoint.

The checklist provided here includes the main elements that The Land Conservancy evaluates when determining whether or not to participate in a development project that incorporates natural resources. Additionally, we use some of the elements (number of lots adjoining open space, and percent of the open space on private lots) to estimate our long-term risk as well as to calculate the annual management costs.

Please contact Lisa Haderlein by phone at 815-337-9502 or email if you have any questions.
Thank you!