Monday’s Normal Town Council meeting largely focused on efforts to address the community's housing crisis — through new developments in Normal and a homeless shelter in Bloomington.
Three measures related to the Carden Springs Planned Unit Development [PUD], and another three regarding the development at Beech Street and Shelbourne Drive, were all approved.
A final development plan for Carden Springs allows construction to move forward for the 36-acre luxury townhouse project being built at the northwest corner of Towanda Avenue and Beech.
The entire development will add 477 units within 28 residential buildings — a mixture of one- two- and three-bedroom units. It will have a mixture of apartment buildings and townhomes. A two-story clubhouse will add parking, a gazebo, fitness center, a pool house area, co-working space with lounge and a rental unit leasing office. An internal trail system will encircle the development’s perimeter, maintained by Normal as part of Constitution Trail.
The council also convened a public hearing for amendments to the developmental agreement, most recently amended in 2024 for Carden Springs. The amendments include that the goal of “substantially complete” will be reached when all structures, rather than just the residential spaces, are issued a certificate of occupancy.
The new wording means the clubhouse also needs to be issued the certificate for the project to be “substantially complete” as required. Prior agreements establish the project must be complete by the end of 2028 — failing to do so will require the developer to pay fees previously waived by the town. Amendments also establish the project will be completed in two phases, with the PUD ultimately becoming one lot.
A final plat also was approved for the project. Lot 1 encompasses about 19.6 acres. Once the entire 36-acres is re-subdivided into one lot of record, the remaining about 16 acres will be available for development.
Collie Ridge
The other development addressed was a nearly 20-acre apartment and townhome complex near the Collie Ridge subdivision.
The development was recommended by the Normal Planning Commission earlier this month, despite a large turnout of residents from the neighborhood speaking against the move. The council approved rezoning the site into multifamily housing, a change from initial plans to keep it as single-family zoning.
The Essex residential development would add 228 apartment units and 24 townhome units at the northeast corner of Beech and Shelbourne. There would be 504 parking spots — two for each unit.
On Monday, the council unanimously approved all three items related to the development.
“If we arbitrarily say no to this after they've checked all the boxes, after they've done everything that was asked of them under our code, are consistent with our long-term plans, we'd be moving the goal post,” said council member Karyn Smith.
“If you want to increase affordable housing in your market, you have to increase housing for everybody,” added Mayor Chris Koos.
While many resident returned to voice their support for a "no" vote on the measures, others made public comments that the development is a more efficient way to develop an infill lot than the single-family variety.
“Single-family housing is by far one of the least cost-efficient ways to add housing on infill lots,” Noah Tang said during public comment. “Not only for the developer, but also for the municipality, once they build the infrastructure needed to service those areas.”
Mercy Davison, Normal's director of planning and zoning, said the project is the sort of infill Normal’s comprehensive plan “prioritizes quite highly.”
A covenant agreement — that neighborhood residents against the move said guaranteed remaining land would be subdivided into single-family dwellings — also was a sticking point.
“Generally, private covenants throughout the town do not control the town's actions when it comes to rezoning or consideration of plans like this,” said town lawyer Jason Querciagrossa.
Another item in need of clarification was the utilization of a 2015 traffic study in determining whether the neighborhood can handle the development’s influx of new residents.
“The most recent town-wide counts that we consider to be normalized would be 2015,” said Ryan Otto, director of engineering and public works. “In some cases after COVID, we've not seen complete recovery of traffic volumes, so we feel the 2015 numbers represent a general indication of what's out there today.”
Shelter village endorsement
The council also endorsed a shelter village with 50 sleeping cabins and a community center that Home Sweet Home Ministries plans to build near downtown Bloomington.
The Bloomington City Council unanimously supported the move during last week’s meeting. At that time, Bloomington encouraged the Town of Normal to do the same.
The shelter village would have room for up to 56 homeless individuals at the property that was formerly the site of headquarters for Connect Transit and is now seen as surplus for the service.
Other business
The council passed a resolution in support of Normal becoming certified by the Bird City Illinois Program — the first step toward becoming certified as Bird City Illinois. The town cites wildlife habitat, community engagement and sustainability practices as reasons it would qualify for the designation.
Key outcomes of the program include the preservation and expansion of passive natural spaces and increased opportunities for wildlife enjoyment. The designation also would help the town address four of the goals in the Vision 2050/sustainability plan — increasing reliability of non-car transit, promoting biodiversity, expanding green infrastructure and increasing energy efficiency.
“Habitat loss across Illinois is real. Bird population decline is real. Millions of birds traverse Illinois during annual migrations, and our town provides accessible places for these feathered travelers to rest and refuel in a landscape dominated by farm fields,” Kris Hall said during public comment.
The council also approved multiple construction projects, including a $222,423.45 contract with the Donelson Construction Company for a pilot project application of PressurePave pavement preservation. PressurePave injects a crack sealant and applies a thin asphalt overlay to pavement, extending the life of a road surface by more than 10 years, says the company. The pilot project is aimed at extending the life of pavement in the Ironwood Subdivision.
Other big projects include a $1.55 million bid to George Gildner Inc. for a Hovey Avenue water service relocation project and a $938,740 bid to Stark Excavating for Chippewa Street improvements.
Approved from the omnibus vote agenda was authorization of a petition to annex town-owned properties into the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District.
