The county board voted to give a special permit to the developer. But there's still a lot of work ahead before breaking ground.
"We want to see, like I said, practical, planned land development that were not going to regret in the future," Ann Schroeder said.
But now Schroeder and other concerned neighbors worry they'll now see that regret after a vote Thursday night vote by the Winnebago County Board.
They granted a special-use permit for a roughly 90-unit subdivision near their rural homes.
"The people have once again been the victim of a political vote," Schroeder said.
These folks have fought a legal battle with the county since 2006 over a housing plan on the Cannell property, about three miles west of Rockton.
It started with a previous board's vote for the special use permit that a judge later sent back to the current board for a new decision.
"I applaud the judge for throwing it back to the county and say look, settle this thing and that's what we did tonight," County Board Member Doug Aurand said.
The special use permit is needed to allow homes on land currently zoned agricultural. Aurand says the land fits houses there.
"It's a sandy soil, it's very hard to grow crops on there. You'd have to put so much fertilizer on there. It's a good use for the land," Aurand said.
But not all board members agreed.
"Based on looking at the map and information submitted to us, I felt, yes, it did impede on the natural and orderly development of the area. It's an agricultural area," Board Member John Sweeney said.
Given the special use permit, supporters say there will still be lots of conditions the developer must meet.
And more review processes from county staff before any dirt gets turned.
As for the citizens group, their spokeswoman says they're not planning any immediate legal action against the county as a result of this new vote.
But she also says they're not disappearing from future county planning.