Engineers:

R.K. Johnson

Other Consultants:

Mark Cagnoni, Ms. Andy Hazard

Category:

Planning and Analysis

Balancing the ongoing demand for new development with the need for protecting natural resources is a problem facing many Illinois communities. Wood Lake on Newburg is a superior example of a conservation-oriented housing development that strives to address this problem. Wood Lake is situated on 43 acres and includes home sites for 90 families in Cherry Valley, just east of Rockford. However, over 60 percent of the site is set aside as a permanent conservation easement.

The landscape architect helped assemble and direct Wood Lake’s design team. The team’s goal was to preserve and restore the natural plant communities and ecological processes of the site while producing plans for best practices for site maintenance. In addition to the design team, the landscape architect recruited the Natural Land Institute and the Village of Cherry Valley to help with the development’s planning and maintenance.

Specific conservation practices featured in the plans include water management techniques, native plant restoration and preservation and riparian area protection. Manning Creek, a spring-fed tributary of the Kishwaukee River, meanders through the center providing an outlet for harvested rain water. The housing units are clustered to minimize impact on the natural area around them. The landscaping within the housing areas uses mostly native plants. Watering, fertilization and chemical treatments are all regulated activities.

The Wood Lake planning process was successful in part because of the cooperation between public and private agencies. This commitment to land stewardship has raised public awareness of the need to create conservation-oriented development in Winnebago County. The landscape architect and its partners have created an ecologically sensitive housing development that serves as a model for other development teams throughout the state.