Lake County committee approves MOU process to avoid pausing Wadsworth development while gateway agreement is renegotiated

Lake County's Planning, Building, Zoning and Environment Committee on Aug. 6 recommended that the County Board approve a memorandum of understanding among Lake County and the villages of Wadsworth and Old Mill Creek that would allow a single, approximately 15‑acre Wadsworth property at the northeastern edge of the 2006 Gateway District to proceed through the village entitlement process while the three jurisdictions negotiate a successor to the Gateway Agreement, which expires in 2026.

Staff described the history: the 2006 intergovernmental Gateway Agreement among the county and the two villages created coordinated land‑use, aesthetic and infrastructure controls for an roughly 800‑acre gateway district around Route 173 and Interstate 94. "Because of the strategic location of this intersection ... the three units of local government ... got together to talk about how to ensure that future development ... was properly planned in terms of…