by Christopher T. Paluch

McHenry County faces a litany of transportation problems directly related to suburban sprawl and community design. Many of the new developments in McHenry County are in unincorporated areas that are not within reasonable walking distance of local municipal centers. Additionally, the residential and commercial developments in both municipalities and unincorporated areas of McHenry are often designed with only automobile use in mind.

One of the main tenants of conservation design is getting people out of their cars by creating communities that are friendly to those who choose to walk or ride a bicycle. While conservation design encourages open space natural areas by clustering development away from environmentally sensitive areas, residential and commercial clustering serves the additional purpose of making neighbors and local business more accessible by foot. Additionally, bike paths are often drawn into conservation design plans, creating an additional mode of environmentally friendly transportation.

Developments utilizing conservation design, along with all other development, should be created within the borders of existing municipalities. Using conservation design principles for spot development in unincorporated areas that would otherwise be used for agriculture defeats the primary purposes of conservation design, reducing automobile usage and preserving open space. A development that incorporates elements of conservation design that is not within a municipality is still considered sprawl.

Creating communities that encourage people to spend less time in their cars will decrease traffic and reduce air pollution. McHenry County is already in a state of gridlock and as a result the air quality is poor. Conservation design can help create communities less reliant on automobiles, and would reduce the amount of environmental degradation within McHenry County from residential and commercial development.