Camiros worked with the County to draft the 2030 Land Resource Management Plan and a new Unified Development Ordinance to implement the plan. This project combined land use planning and zoning regulations, and directly links both broad strategic and specific land use policies with land development regulations targeted to these policies. The adopted 2030 Land Resource Management Plan won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for Environmental Stewardship.
Winnebago County is largely a rural county in the western portion, whereas in the eastern half the County is primarily urbanized. Because of this diverse make-up and the accelerating growth rate as the Chicago-metro population continues to migrate into the County, there are a number of pressures that must be addressed within the plan and ordinance. Foremost is the preservation of significant amounts of valuable farmland and natural resources. Another equally important issue is control over the location of new residential development, as well as the proper location of new industrial development. To further the environmental conservation policies within the adopted plan, the ordinance featured the following:
- Traditional neighborhood development districts, to be located near incorporated municipalities.
- Conservation design development districts, to minimize the impact of residential development in the rural, unincorporated parts of the County.
- Permissions and standards for new environmental uses such as solar farms, wind farms, and recycling facilities.
- Requirements for enhanced stormwater controls, in particular within sensitive areas such as around the Kishwaukee River.
Regulations that protect and require development sensitive to natural resources identified on the natural resources inventory and agriculture.
