Belvidere - Boone County Planning Department

 Belvidere City Hall
401 Whitney Boulevard, Suite 400
Belvidere, IL 61008

Hours: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Phone: 815-544-5271
Fax: 815-547-9214
E-Mail: planning@boonecountyil.org

STAFF
Adam Tegen, Director of Planning
planning@boonecountyil.org

Kathy Miller, Assistant Planner
assistantplanner@boonecountyil.org

Gina Del Rose, Associate Planner
associateplanner@boonecountyil.org

Sarah Powell, Technical Planner
techplanner@boonecountyil.org

Mike Wrenn, GIS Specialist
gis@boonecountyil.org

OVERVIEW

The Belvidere / Boone County Planning Department is truly unique in that it is a cooperative effort between both the City of Belvidere and Boone County, and is jointly funded by both governments. By combining our resources into one comprehensive planning department, we are able to provide excellent service at the lowest cost to the taxpayer, as well as maximize our ability to address joint issues that impact both the City and County through a single department.

Together, the City of Belvidere and Boone County took the lead in bringing together other units of local government to develop our county wide Comprehensive Plan, and these units of local government have adopted this plan as a working tool to assist them in the future development of our community.



Belvidere - Boone County GIS
Click here to visit our new Geographical Information Systems Site at www.boonecountyil.org/gis





THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD TEXT VERSION OF THE BOONE COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
(9,185 kb., 190 pages, .pdf file - Adobe Acrobat reader required.)
Click here to download the Boone County Comprehensive Planned Land Use Map

The Boone County Comprehensive Plan is a blueprint for the short-range and long-range growth and development of Boone County, the City of Belvidere, the Villages of Caledonia, Capron, Poplar Grove, and Timberlane, and the Hamlet of Garden Prairie. It is designed to be used by County, City, and Village officials as a policy guide to direct community development decisions, to assist with community facility budgeting, and as a tool to focus and stimulate private housing, business, and industrial investment in the community.

The Comprehensive Plan was developed to provide sound public policy guidance, and incorporated an inclusive public participation process that ensured that its recommendations are reflective of a broad, community supported future vision. It was adopted on November 10, 1999 following extensive research, community forums and public participation workshops, and a formal hearing and review process. In brief, the Boone County Comprehensive Plan:

  • Calls for the permanent preservation of 75% of the County's remaining developable land
  • Recommends permanent protection of all wetlands, floodplains, and sensitive environmental areas
  • Advocates provision of smart growth locations for urban, suburban and exurban development
  • Identifies permanent community separation areas
  • Promotes an agricultural research park and multi-modal transit development node

Future changes or amendments to the Plan must be approved by the County and other affected jurisdictions (City/Villages). The Plan is periodically evaluated by community representatives and amended as needed to keep current with changes brought about by time.



CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FINAL PROPOSED DRAFT OF THE BOONE COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE.

This is the final draft of the proposed new Boone County Zoning Ordinance. The current zoning regulations are available for review at the Boone County Planning Office, 401 Whitney Boulevard, Suite 400, Belvidere, IL 61008.

The County Board will be reviewing the new ordinance at a Special Meeting on June 18, 2008 at 6:30 p.m. Those interested in providing their comments on the proposed ordinance are encouraged to attend this meeting at the Boone County Courthouse, 601 North Main Street, Belvidere, IL 61008. A hard copy of the proposed ordinance is available for review at the Planning Office.

Any questions or concerns may be directed to the Planning Office at 815-544-5271 or planning@boonecountyil.org.



CLICK HERE TO VIEW CITY OF BELVIDERE CODE OF ORDINANCES
Please Note: The Belvidere City Zoning Code is Chapter 150.





THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT

The Belvidere-Boone County Planning Department provides staff support to the Regional Planning Commission. The Regional Planning Commission consists of the City of Belvidere Planning and Zoning Commission and the Boone County Planning Commission. Each Planning Commission, comprised of 5 appointed officials for the County and 7 appointed officials for the City, reviews and makes recommendations to its governing body on land use planning issues in their respective jurisdiction. On matters of mutual concern, the Commissions join together to form the Regional Planning Commission to address land use planning issues with regard to the city/county. Planning staff also provides support services to the following Boards and Commissions:

City of Belvidere:

  • Committee of the Whole (10 City Council members and the Mayor)
  • City Council (10 elected members and the Mayor)


Boone County:

  • Zoning Board of Appeals (5 appointed members)
  • Planning, Zoning, and Building Committee (5 County Board members)
  • County Board (11 elected members and the Chairman)


The Belvidere-Boone County Planning Department consists of a Director, an Associate Planners, an Associate Planner, one Technical Planner, and one GIS Specialist. Planning staff mainly provides administrative and customer assistance. Planning staff processes all city and county variances, zoning changes, special uses, text amendments, and subdivision requests. Other duties include processing requests for annexation, addressing new developments, landscape plan reviews, and other special and long range planning projects. Planning staff also maintains the city and county zoning, address, and base maps, including zoning and subdivision ordinances; all of which are made available to the public.



The Belvidere-Boone County Planning Department provides the following application forms for download, as well as instructions for completing the applications.

These application forms are in Adobe Acrobat format which
*Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - It can be downloaded for FREE


Zoning Change Applications
Special Use Permit Applications
Variance Applications
Text Amendment Applications
Subdivision Plat Approval Applications

Also available for online viewing,
or for download in .jpg format are the following land maps:

Boone County Comprehensive Planned Land Use Map
Boone County Zoning District Map
City of Belvidere Zoning District Map


Disclaimer   The information on this site is meant to provide an additional source of news about the Boone County Board and its activities. It is subject to change and is not a substitute for any official agenda, statement or official meeting. All notice requirements must still be done in accordance with the existing law and those citizens who discuss issues before the Boone County Board should follow the established procedure. For any further questions, please call the County Administration Office at (815) 547-4770.


Special Use Subdivision Plats - Preliminary & Final Text Amendments Variances Zoning Changes Back to City of Belvidere Home Page Back to Boone County Govt. Departments Page Planning, Zoning & Building Agenda Zoning Board of Appeals Agenda Regional Planning Commission Agenda Belvidere Planning Commission Boone County Planning Commission Comprehensive Plan Map Belvidere/Boone County GIS
Boone County, Illinois        City of Belvidere