Fox Bluff Vacation Cottage and RV Resort, formerly known as the Hide-A-Way Lakes campground, is at the center of a new boundary agreement between Yorkville and Oswego.

The resort had been a sticky issue between the two municipalities regarding police services, planning and water usage, described by Yorkville city staff as “one of the primary outstanding issues that previously delayed” a long-term jurisdictional boundary agreement.

The campsite was redeveloped by new property owner Lance Beatch following his purchase of the site in December 2020. Oswego voted to annex the resort in April 2022.

The resort is located at 8045 Van Emmon Road, near Illinois Route 71.

Yorkville is tentatively looking to schedule a public hearing on the proposed boundary agreement at the March 10 City Council meeting. A final vote by City Council is expected at the March 24 meeting.

To help with long-term planning, growth management, and future annexation guidance, the two communities have maintained a boundary agreement since 2001. That agreement expired in September 2021.

The agreement gave guidance to potential overlapping future annexations and shared public services responsibilities within an overlapping planning jurisdiction range. Both communities set plans regarding properties within 1.5 miles of their municipal limits.

Oswego approved the agreement terms and the revised boundary line on Jan. 6, with the resort clearly in Oswego’s jurisdiction.

Yorkville city staff said new clear outlines for responsibilities was needed because since the resort annexed to Oswego, the Yorkville Police Department has responded to four calls for service at the resort between April 2023 and December 2025.

Yorkville’s Community Development Director Krysti Barksdale-Noble said the new agreement must clarify primary police response responsibilities. She said the recent calls for service are “demonstrating the continued practical need for cooperate response protocols,” according to city documents.

The new agreement also reflects the water supply coordination, given the joint Lake Michigan water sourcing project by both municipalities. The project is set to bring Lake Michigan water to both communities by 2028.

The agreement also removes “self-determination zones” that existed within the shared planning boundary between the two cities. Removal of these zones limits the ability for property owners to choose which city they wish to annex to if they so desire.

“These areas previously allowed landowners to petition for annexation to either municipality, which introduced long-term uncertainty and the potential for annexation disputes,” Barksdale-Noble said in city documents.

Yorkville has recently annexed several properties for future data centers and solar farm developments.

Yorkville city staff said it supports the new agreement because it “reduces annexation conflicts, supports orderly development, and promotes regional coordination.”

The new updated jurisdictional boundary agreement will expire Feb. 1, 2042.