Politics & Government

Rabchuk Endorses St. Charles Draft 2013 Comprehensive Plan

Mayoral candidate calls plan a responsible growth approach for St. Charles.

St. Charles mayoral candidate John Rabchuk announced Friday he is formally endorsing the responsible growth strategy for St. Charles that is outlined in the draft 2013 Comprehensive Plan.

“Having served as vice chairman for the St. Charles Comprehensive Plan Task Force for almost two years, I know firsthand the effort that has been extended by the entire task force team to identify opportunities for St. Charles to continue to grow in a responsible manner,” Rabchuk said in a release. “Just as with any business, a city must grow or it will slowly stagnate and lose ground to neighboring communities.”

“A few vocal residents of our city believe that there is an unending line of developers eager to make proposals to St. Charles,” he continued. “This is not only wrong, but it is potentially very dangerous to the long-term health of our community. Developers will, and are, taking their investment funds elsewhere as it has become increasingly more costly to attempt to do business in St. Charles.”

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But Rabchuk, who is running for mayor in the April 2013 election, was clear that he does not favor unfettered development.

“That is not to say that all proposed developments should be approved, nor that every development represents a responsible plan for the future of St. Charles,” he said. “To be successful, developments need to take a balanced approach that recognizes that a responsible growth plan for the city will include retail, commercial, industrial and potentially all forms of residential development within our community; as well as to account for the manner in which those developments blend into their surroundings.

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“The draft 2013 Comprehensive Plan presents a roadmap for a responsible 10-year growth plan for the city of St. Charles,” he said in the release. “It is not an action plan calling for specific developments or even specific land uses, but rather it should be viewed as a vision statement for responsible growth that will serve as a reference guideline as specific proposals are made and evaluated.

“I would encourage all residents to read the plan documents which are available on the city’s website,” he continued. “It is doubtful that anyone will agree with every single aspect of the plan, but I believe that the task force has done an excellent job of considering the multitude of options and comments considered during this lengthy process.”

Related:

  • Nov. 16: End in Sight for St. Charles Plan Panel

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