What should McHenry look like in 25 years? New city plan now open for public input

For the past 18 months, McHenry city staff has met with consultants, hosted events and listening nights, interviewed residents and sought public input on what residents want their city to look like in 25 years.

The results of those discussions are now available as McHenry’s Comprehensive Plan and the Downtown Plan and can be read at mchenry2050.com. A link on the site allows residents to comment on that plan directly to city staff.

City staff hopes to present the two plans for the McHenry City Council’s consideration during the Nov. 18 meeting, said Ross Polerecky, director of community development.

The online plans outline how staff, using feedback from about 2,000 community members, developed the plan and its goals. Both plans for the city as a whole and the downtown, specifically, call for development into the future that preserves McHenry’s “small town character” while also having sustainable growth, is resilient in the face of future economic changes, and is fiscally sustainable for years to come.

The downtown comprehensive plan focuses on three areas: Green Street, Riverside Drive and Main Street, noting they are spread out and isolated by arterial roadways. It also lays out suggested uses for two of the downtown’s hot-button areas: the former wastewater treatment plant site on Waukegan Road and the 2¼ acres of city-owned land between Green Street, Route 120-Elm Street and Boone Creek.

Those two areas were the subject of a “standstill agreement” with Geneva-based developer Shodeen Group, where the city would not market the property to other developers while the two sides worked on potential plans for the parcels. However, the council nixed preliminary plans brought forward by Shodeen in July.

That agreement is officially void, as the council on Oct. 7 officially accepted the mutual termination of that pact.

Residents who want to comment on the two plans are asked to do so within the next 30 days.