May 15, 2025
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Green spaces: Parks and recreation spaces in Yorkville created, preserved with land cash funds

Funds collects hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers to create and manage recreational space

By Joey Weslo
Rice Park in Yorkville features all new inclusive playground equipment, including a more horizontal climbing net designed to be fun for both children in wheelchairs and kids of any ability.

Rice Park in Yorkville features all new inclusive playground equipment, including a more horizontal climbing net designed to be fun for both children in wheelchairs and kids of any ability. (Provided by The City of Yorkville)

Several parks and green spaces throughout Yorkville have been paid for with fees charged to residential developers. Here’s a closer look at the city’s land cash funds, how they work and who benefits.

There currently is $276,268 in the city’s land cash funds, with an additional $569,173 expected over the next several years. The land cash ordinance is comprised of both donated land and cash residential developers pay to the city to green light their construction projects.

The fund is allocated to sites across town by the Yorkville Parks and Recreation department. Parks staff currently encourage the collection contribution from developers as 50% land and 50% cash.

This strategy ensures the preservation of open spaces for public parks, playgrounds and schools, while keeping the onus away from taxpayers. Often, the funds will help construct a park and playground within the same residential subdivision project that is being developed.

“An important aspect of this ordinance is that the objective is met without raising taxes,” Tim Evans, director of parks and recreation, said in city documents. “It places the responsibility on the developers who create the need with a development within the city.”

Each developer must pay a fee determined by the size of the development, the number of homes and the sizes of the homes.

Funds generated and allocated back into their developments and subdivisions include:

  • Fox Hill – $92,819
  • Timber Ridge – $72,202
  • Caledonia – $62,414
  • Briarwood – $3,789
  • Blackberry Woods – $1,704
  • Heartland Meadows – $27,838
  • White Oaks – $1,406.
  • River’s Edge – $2,684.
  • Kendall Marketplace – $9,443.
  • Country Hills – $1,1967

Outside of the money already being allocated, some significant funds from new developments are being generated.

In the Grande Reserve subdivision, $664,000 is being collected with another $250,000 expected when the future approved developments reaches the next stage. Together, the funds are being designated to develop unfinished parks within the subdivision. Any leftover funds will be used to purchase land for a larger regional park and to upgrade existing parks within the subdivision, according to city documents.

In the Bristol Bay subdivision, $50,000 in generated funds were approved by the park board to be used to develop a park site within the neighborhood.

In the former-site of Parfection Park, the Fox Haven subdivision and the neighboring Heartland West subdivision is expected to generate $292,905 over the next several years.

The city currently is using the funds to design Prestwick Park, with installation of the playground equipment expected to begin later this fall.

The construction will come after the city creates ordinances regarding land cash funds and data center developments. The city is targeting 3,000 acres to convert to manufacturing for the construction of data center warehouses.