Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Governance Planning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
McHenry County staff roll out digital staff-report format tied to 2050 comprehensive plan
Summary
County planning staff introduced a redesigned digital staff-report that links to the newly adopted 2050 comprehensive plan, adds interactive hyperlinks and maps, and flags ongoing work to address ADA accessibility and link maintenance; board members suggested usability improvements.
County planning staff presented a revised staff-report format tied to the new 2050 comprehensive plan, describing interactive hyperlinks to plan chapters, embedded maps and a report watermark intended to improve public accessibility and reduce paper use.
Melody (staff) said the updated reports include links that jump directly to the comp‑plan chapters and a new future land‑use map layer in the county GIS viewer. "We did revise our staff reports, and to incorporate that information and to give it, like, a new look," Melody told the board.
Why it matters: the new format aims to make staff analysis easier to navigate for both the board and the public, but board members raised practical concerns about link reliability, findability and ADA compliance.
Board feedback and follow-up: members asked for shortcuts to frequently referenced UDO definitions, suggested adding quick links to Google Maps/PlanDev or county GIS to better locate parcels, and pressed staff on how broken links will be prevented. Staff said IT will audit links and that ADA remediation remains in progress; staff also noted that the GIS PlanDev viewer had not yet been updated to the 2050 future land‑use layer and that updates were forthcoming. Longer-term text amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance are planned over the next 12–18 months.
Next steps: staff will continue refining the interactive reports, address ADA issues with IT, and bring UDO text amendments to the board in planned rounds. The board thanked staff for the redesign and agreed to test the new reports and provide feedback.
Source: presentation to the McHenry County Zoning Board of Appeals by county planning staff (presentation and Q&A).
