Barrington Area Council of Governments

GOAL

An open space system, which satisfies the outdoors recreational needs of area residents, conserves and restores the natural environment, preserves critical areas, and provides an overall framework to guide and manage new development and contributes to the psychological well being of area residents.

OBJECTIVES

Create a coordinated system of local and regional open spaces designed and located to protect and restore natural resources and to meet the present and future noncommercial recreational needs of the area population.

Utilize open spaces to preserve, protect, and restore those natural resources, which are critical to the overall environment.

Create open spaces which can be used to guide and shape the form and pattern of new development within the area.

Utilize the open space system to preserve and enhance the natural, manmade, and historical features of the BACOG area.

Develop new techniques to insure that private lands will remain as open space land uses, particularly where possible, agriculture, large rural properties, golf courses and nurseries.

PURPOSES OF OPEN SPACE
Open space is that portion of the landscape, which has not been built upon. It includes land and water areas under both public and private ownershiip. Open space entails a positive, purposeful use of the land, just as does housing,industry, and commercial development. The open space system forms a bridge between environmental policies and land use policies. It provides land for recreation, protects vital natural resources, shapes local development patterns, and helps preserve the countryside character. The open space system is a key mechanism for implementing both the land-use and environmental policies.

Discussion here focuses on two key functions of open space. Recreational Open Space provides recreational services for area residents. The system contains two primary types of recreational land: Regional Open Space includes large multipurpose parks, nature preserves, and special use facilities, which have area‑wide significance; and Local Open Space which provide services to individual neighborhoods and with other villages as a sub-region. Urban Form potentials can also become a key structuring element for future urban growth and development. The location of open space areas can shape and articulate future growth patterns. Such open space considerations should be included in the BACOG area land-use guidance system. Open Space Corridors-Greenways are a series of open space corridors that should be created by paralleling key natural features to link together separate open space areas. Open Space Anchors are large forest preserves which anchor the BACOG area. Several of these anchors are located along key access routes, providing visually effective "gateways" for the area, and are important elements in BACOG's visual identity.

RECOMMENDED OPEN SPACE SYSTEM
The recommended open space system includes sites, which can offer multiple benefits to the community; they can protect critical natural features, provide recreational opportunities, shape urban growth, and enhance the countryside character. The system is based upon a series of environmental corridors which follows critical natural features. These link together various existing and proposed open space areas that will provide a framework for guiding future development.

LAND USE‑RECOMMENDATIONS AND MAPPING
A review has been accomplished noting zoning changes in each village, and open space additions. These intense discussions on village land use policies and regional land use trends are reflected in the updated BACOG land use map and specific recommendations are included in the plan document.