Just Say No!

I freely admit that attempting to manage growth in western Kane County is a real challenge. But, when I meet with officials from towns like Sugar Grove, I get worried about our future together. It seems that we have met the enemy in our planning efforts, and he is us. Here is another of the unusual pronouncements made to me at a recent meeting about a boundary agreement between Village of Elburn and Sugar Grove.

An official from Sugar Grove said that someday Main Street Road is going to be just like Randall Road, and when that happens, Sugar Grove wants to be sure they get "half of the action."

Now that's an absolutely mind-boggling statement to make, and one that illuminates Sugar Grove's agenda for dramatic expansion and growth regardless of the consequences.

In the past, officials from Sugar Grove have expressed a concern to me about of their lack of a downtown, and their difficulties attracting the retail development that they desire. And yet, here they are negotiating the spoils from the potential commercialization of a rural road six miles from the center of their village. It's just my opinion, but if Sugar Grove officials keep planning like this, their chances to build the downtown they say they want are highly unlikely.

I believe that Main Street Road should be preserved by Kane County as a rural road. We need to use this road to create an open space buffer between Elburn and Sugar Grove for the foreseeable future. Further, we need to concentrate business development back into our respective town centers, not create opportunities to disperse business investment to our perimeters.

I feel that the commercialization of Main Street Road would represent a complete and total failure of both Elburn and Sugar Grove to address our growth related issues. It would be a sign that all we had left behind for our children were the ugliest manifestations of suburban sprawl.

Our legacy must be something more than acres of disconnected subdivisions, crowded underfunded schools, and traffic jams. Surely we can work together to be smarter and more sensible than this.

"Just Say No!" to the commercialization of Main Street Road.