Updated: Lake Bluff to Draft Boundary Agreement With Green Oaks

will explore shared service opportunities with the village of Green Oaks after creating a committee to draft a boundary agreement during Monday night’s Committee of the Whole meeting at Lake Bluff Village Hall.

Lake Bluff Trustees Kathy O’Hara and Steve Christiansen will join Village Clerk Bill Meyer to create a draft for the Village Board to consider before showing it to the village of Green Oaks. Village Administrator Drew Irvin expected the process to take from six to eight months.

Last month, Lake Bluff Village President Christine Letchinger and Irvin brought the boundary agreement idea to Green Oaks President Bernie Wysocki and Trustee Denny Dorsey.

“They were very open to it,” Irvin said.

Though the two villages do not share common boundaries, Irvin said, but both Comprehensive Plans speak to the same geographic area.

"The Village’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which is a policy document adopted by the Village Board of Trustees, sets the land use policies for development in Lake Bluff and in areas within one and one-half miles outside the Village," Irvin said by email. "Its goal is to ensure sound planning, preserve character, enhance Lake Bluff’s image and manage growth.  Pursuant to state law, Lake Bluff’s planning authority includes areas situated within the one and one-half miles outside of the Village (extra-territorial jurisdiction).

"The same is true for Green Oaks," he added. "So, they too should and will to continue to look and “plan” for areas within and just outside of their corporate boundaries---just like us."

Green Oaks is a village of nearly 4,000 residents and doesn’t have a full-time administrator on staff.

“They don’t get involved in a lot of the shared services that we do with other communities on the North Shore, as well as the ,” Irvin said. “They liked gaining a conduit to get information about those opportunities.”

Irvin indicated Green Oaks’ boundaries extend as far east as the Metro Self Storage, 13000 Rockland Road, and as far north as the property due west of the former Hill Top Nursing Home, 502 N. Waukegan Road, which is for sale.

“At stake there are really the (Route)176 corridor and the sanitarium piece across from North Chicago and across from our Sanctuary” development, Letchinger said.

Also on the table could be an opportunity for both villages to secure shared sales tax revenue from the Walgreens on Route 176, just west of Waukegan Road, according to Letchinger.

Irvin said Lake Bluff doesn’t provide services directly to the boundary area. Indirectly, the village has provided police and fire protection through mutual-aid agreements.

“So it’s not uncommon for Lake Bluff to be the first responding agency in these geographic areas that have been identified just by the fact that we are closer,” he said.

Fire calls are handled by the Knollwood Fire Department through an agreement with the Countryside Fire Protection District. Ambulance services in the area are shared with Lake Forest.

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