The growth of the Chicago metropolitan area has led many former farming communities to first face the challenges of suburbanization and then have to adjust to a new role as a mature built-out community. Camiros was retained by the Village of Libertyville to prepare two comprehensive plans adopted twenty years apart that established clear policy guidance to manage this evolution.
Libertyville’s 1985 Comprehensive Plan focused on retaining the community’s distinctive character while managing future growth. The future land use framework plan took a proactive approach to development policy, while recognizing that the Village had greater discretion in determining future land use in some areas than others. Revitalization of Libertyville’s historic downtown was also emphasized in the 1985 plan. In contrast, Camiros’ award-winning Comprehensive Plan emphasized planning for a maturing community. The planning process used extensive public involvement to shape land use policy and implementation strategies including a community survey, key person interviews, downtown focus group, and meetings with a broad range of constituent groups. Opportunities for infill development, revitalization of commercial corridors, and mixed use development in the downtown were explored in a series of subarea policy plans.
