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  MayorBoard of TrusteesZoning CommissionPlan CommissionMunicipal CodeWoodland ProtectionFinanceThe Caucus System in Riverwoods
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Archive: Superseded by Woodland Protection Ordinance proposal This idea to protect our treasured woodland areas grew out of comprehensive plan discussions initiated by our Plan Commission. The areas of the village that have the dense, native woodland type environment will be considered for a new zoning district that imposes certain restrictions designed to protect our woodlands, in addition to the normal lot size and building setbacks. The woodland overlay area would include most of the village but not include these areas: Thorngate, Country Club Estates, the Lake-Cook Office Campus, Meadowlake and the commercial areas west of the Des Plaines river. If you have property inside the woodland overlay district, the restriction prohibits changing the woodland environment by covering more than a fixed percentage of the lot with homes, garages, barns, accessory buildings, swimming pools and - here is where we are challenging the most ingrained habits – lawn or turfgrass. The maximum percentages proposed for “covered area” on any lot in the woodland protection district are: R1 – 30%, R1A – 27%, R2 – 25% and R3 – 20%. Why no grass? And why these percentages? What is our woodland? The woodland areas in the village, if not disturbed by humans, wildlife or nonnative, invasive plants tend naturally to evolve into a hickory-oak hardwood forest. The majestic hardwoods of our area represent the “climax” stage of the forest and are admired by arborists as the highest and best eco-system that the land can sustain. The oaks, hickories, sugar maples, blue beeches and ironwoods are identified in our tree preservation ordinance as most protected or favored trees. Now, mother nature does not always promote these desirable trees in all areas – we also have box elders, ashes, basswoods, elms and hackberries. Besides the tallest or “canopy” trees, we have understory trees and shrubs and, on the forest floor, ground plain plants, such as trillium. The woodlands are a community resource and treasure. They are beautiful in and of themselves, but they add privacy, provide homes for wildlife, help cleanse our air and groundwater, and provide many other benefits. The trouble is that they are disappearing – perhaps not at a rate that is noticeable to everyday observation – but noticeable to our village forester and other long-time residents who can measure the loss against a baseline. The losses to woodlands come from three sources (1) new construction and home additions, (2) wildlife pressures and (3) non-native species competition. The village has been strengthening its tree preservation ordinance. We now require a mitigation program to replant trees when they are taken down for new construction. We now also have a 50/50 cost sharing program to encourage restoration of woodland by removing invasive species such as buckthorn and garlic mustard. The program also extends to reforestation of certain tree species. You can receive up to $1,000 from this program. The missing ingredients in our efforts to enhance this vital community resource are two-fold: (1) protection Woodland Overlay Protection continued from the front cover of the full plant community that comprises the woodlands and (2) more community education about the desirability of minimizing our destructive impact on this resource. When we require a developer to plant new saplings in replacement of lost trees, we accomplish very little if those saplings are merely planted in a bed of new lawn. Turfgrass is not bad in itself – but in excess, it carves up the woodlands into fragmented areas that are too small to be self-regenerating. Grass requires watering and fertilizer and is a “mono-culture” that doesn’t allow other plants to grow on the forest floor and doesn’t support the communities of micro-organisms that also are vital to the forest. The spreading of lawn grass underneath forest trees affects the absorption of water, the temperature of the soil and many, many factors – but the end result is that we cannot have an enduring woodland that consists only of the tall canopy trees – a woodland as we have in Riverwoods is a complex plant community that consists of many layers, including the ground plain. So, in the woodland protection ordinance, we have attempted to provide a comfort zone in which the house and accessory uses and some lawn can be planted. We have examined aerial photographs and inspected numerous properties in recommending the maximum coverage percentages. With the size of our lots, the lawn areas we see around many houses still do not approach these coverage limits. Most houses currently comply with these ratios and most new construction will not be unduly hindered. Existing lawn can remain but would be reduced if an owner applied for new construction that encroached further into the woodland. What we are trying to prevent is the wholesale eradication of the woodland on any given lot where that type of destruction is simply not necessary to accommodate the residential needs of an owner. We have started to see instances of buyers acquiring our lovely large lots, only to replace all of the native ground cover with grass. They perhaps do not recognize the damage that is being done to the overall woodland environment – and this is where our education efforts will become very important. Our proposed new ordinance is innovative and perhaps also will have some growing pains before we get it completely right.
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We welcome your responses. Please e-mail all responses to scrohn@riverwoods-il.net Downloads The documents below are in reference to the original Woodland Overlay Protection District which has now been superseded by the Woodland Protection Ordinance.
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