By CHARLES B. CLEVELAND

Chicago

McHenry County's time has come: of cows and growth and septic tanks

IF YOU DROVE 50 miles northwest of Chicago, you'd be in Woodstock. county seat of McHenry County. In the past this area was mostly farmland, but times are changing. Downtown is typical of most Illinois county seats: an old courthouse on the town square, next door the jail. But there is one significant difference. Now, both are in a brand new facility north of town.

The courthouse and jail are still there but they've been remodeled to house a gift shop and specialty stores; and there are some who hope to see Woodstock rebuilt around these old buildings into a 1890-era town with nostalgic appeal.

But that's not all that's happening to McHenry—people are happening. The county had 84.000 people in 1960, 111,000 ten years later, and planners predict 250,000 by 1990. Its boosters say McHenry's rate of growth is third in the state, just behind Lake and DuPage.

This rapid growth puts McHenry into the classic dilemma which many rural areas must face. At what point should land be used for people and at what point for growing food? Nobody yet has the answer, but the McHenry County Board of Supervisors is trying to face up to the problem through zoning, planning efforts and, to some extent, taxes.

Part of the task falls on the county board's zoning committee which is headed by a clergyman, the Rev. Mark Jones. Historically, most of the urban growth in McHenry has been concentrated in the southeast corner, four townships which include Woodstock and Crystal Lake. But in the past year, growth has occurred four or five miles on either side of the Chicago & North Western railroad which means it is extending toward Harvard, a dairy farm area near the Wisconsin border.

Economics play a role. Dairy farming isn't a high profit business; land is. In some areas of 'McHenry, farmland is selling for S 1.500 to $1.800 an acre; subdivision land may be worth $5.000 an acre.

Rev. Jones thinks this may change; he feels that shortages of foodstuffs may soon reverse the trend and make farmlands more valuable. George Young. University of Illinois extension adviser, is also optimistic. He concedes the future probably means fewer farmers primarily because farms are getting bigger; he also sees some shifting to grains and possible truck farming among those now in dairy farming.

Experts say 80 per cent of McHenry County contains land in the top three categories for farming; ideally land development would occur in the other 20 per cent. But the question of controlled growth is unanswered. One experiment in New York has gotten some attention. There a group of farmers voted by referendum to restrict their area to farming for 10 years. McHenry is trying a tax approach, assessing farmlands at the lowest rate; farmers think even that rate is too high as a tactic for survival.

Coupled with the problem of farm survival is the problem of orderly growth. Walter Dean, county board chairman, sees McHenry as "country living with urban services." Others visualize a kind of Connecticut of the Midwest with mini-farms or a spread large enough to justify a riding horse or two. Obviously such zoning is possible only in areas not yet developed.

There is some public sentiment back of the plan. Rev. Jones says one-third of the residents of his hometown of Crystal Lake are commuters to Chicago, one-third are local businessmen or involved in industry and the other one-third farmers, doctors, and professionals. Many of the residents there, and elsewhere in the county, came from Chicago. "Some now have three-acre homesites and they don't want 50 foot lots next to theirs." Rev. Jones says. There's also the matter of sanitation.

McHenry County also has problems left over from the past. Wonder Lake is one example. It started as a summer home area for Chicago residents. After World War II many ex-servicemen converted these homes into year-round dwellings. The result is overcrowding, mixed zoning and big city problems without adequate local government. One of these problems—which exists county wide—is a dependence on septic tanks. Wonder Lake is nearing a crisis stage that probably will force costly sewage treatment because the ground is close to saturation with effluent.

As a result of this experience, the county board is requiring all new construction to provide room for a second septic tank field should the first become inoperative. This usually means a minimum half-acre plot. Special soil tests are also required before building permits are issued. At the present time the zoning and building code for the county is being revised upward on the theory McHenry will be dependent on septic tanks for the foreseeable future.

The pressure of people is accompanied by expanding industry. A number of major companies have relocated in McHenry County; Dean believes industrial expansion is necessary to provide jobs for McHenry residents who now commute to Chicago, Rockford, Waukegan or Milwaukee. Rev. Jones would welcome shopping centers which bring in tax revenue, but not people because they jack up the costs of running government. At the moment no new shopping centers are in sight; industrial growth probably awaits a change in the economy. 

254 /Illinois Issues/August 1975