Yorkville Comprehensive Plan Update

In 2017, The Yorkville Plan was awarded the Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan from the American Planning Association – Illinois Chapter. See the full plan here.

In 2014, Lakota was engaged by the United City of Yorkville (pop: 17,742) to help undertake an 18-month process to prepare an update to its 2008 Comprehensive Plan. Yorkville, located 55 miles to the southwest of Chicago in semi-rural Kendall County and along the scenic Fox River Valley, had experienced significant residential and commercial growth during the early to mid-2000’s – the community largely doubling in population during that time period. However, since the national economic recession of 2008, residential and commercial development had slowed substantially, and the land use and growth scenarios proposed within the 2008 Comprehensive Plan were unrealistic given current economic conditions. The 2015 Comprehensive Plan Update proposes a new future land use and development framework that largely concentrates growth in existing residential areas, along with strategies that deal with “paper” subdivisions lacking plat and entitlements. In addition, the Plan provides detailed planning strategies for the revitalization of its traditional downtown district along the Fox River, as well as recommendations for parks and open space, infrastructure systems, expanded industrial areas, transportation, and urban design and placemaking. Lakota was assisted in the Plan’s preparation by TY Lin International, Goodman Williams Group and an 18-member Steering Committee composed of key community stakeholders.