OUR PLACE
Williams Bay has some very unhappy residents.
The resort, called the Preserve, has sparked controversy in the community. The residents of Williams Bay are questioning village officials about Topography’s Preserve concept for the former Aurora/George Williams College property. The current land use situation started brewing for the Village in 2018 when, after 100 years, 200 acres of adjoining prime land began to change ownership. The 77 acres owned by the University of Chicago since 1892 containing Yerkes Observatory – the birthplace of astrophysics – the lakefront and park were sold and split into properties now owned by Yerkes Future Foundation, the Women’s Conference Center, and residential lots on what was once Frost Woods.
This was followed by Aurora University’s sales of the former YMCA training camp’s 137 acres to Topography, the creator of The Preserve, in 2023. Three of Topography’s six parcels are located within the Village of Williams Bay and contain the lake-front campus and what was formerly known as the front nine of the golf course. The campus and golf course parcels are presently zoned Public and Institutional. Topography’s attorney applied and petitioned the Village to amend the text of its comprehensive plan by re-titling the “institutional campus” future land use category to “institutional campus and limited resort” and amending the future land use map where the 40-acre parcel golf course is located from planned neighborhood to institutional campus and limited resort.
The Planning Commission discussed the proposed Comprehensive Plan text amendment, Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Map amendment, and a Planned Development Overlay concept plan for The Preserve. A joint Plan Commission and Village Board public meeting is planned for 7 p.m., Dec. 9 at the Williams Bay High School. Following the public hearing, the Plan Commission and Village Board are expected to take action to continue, approve or not approve. There also are plans to annex additional land from the town of Walworth to accommodate this project.
Many in the community say a resort doesn’t fit the character of this primarily residential community, while others feel it is the best option for the property that has been for sale since 2023.
