The Normal Town Council has reviewed elements of a new strategic plan and approved changes to the Enterprise Zone that would offer development incentives in portions of Bloomington-Normal, including the under-performing Eastland Mall.
The strategic plan focuses on several ever-present initiatives, including housing strategies, infrastructure, and finishing fire station number two.
A new item appearing on the radar is planning for infrastructure in north Normal where there is an opportunity for growth, said city manager Pam Reece.
“What we're specifically looking at is the area along Business 51 and I-39, that northwest area of Normal. Growth is going to be driven by infrastructure. It's going to require water, sewer, storm water services, additional roads. We've got our hands full in terms of looking at how to prime that area in the future for growth and take advantage of the highway adjacency,” said Reece.
The area closest to the interstates will probably be targeted for commercial, industrial, and manufacturing, she said. Residential development could happen further away from the interstates, maybe along North Linden, Northtown Road, Towanda Avenue and Pipeline Road.
Reece said the town will use the Regional Land Use plan in development by the McLean County Regional Planning Commission to inform the town’s own comprehensive plan.
There had been public pushback on commission effort. Some questioned the process that initially scheduled public input only after the commission developed a draft plan. That feedback process has since been made more robust and a second draft will come later. Other people are worried about loss of farmland and how to honor the idea that the community should not look to expand, but to be more compact.
“I think it's really a balance," said Reece. "We see infill as a primary location for residential, Towanda Avenue north of Shelburne [Avenue] up to Raab Road, up to the interstate would be infill development and residential.”
She said future long-term growth needs to support the community and growth in jobs in the commercial sector, but also residential.
Also in the strategic plan, is another fire station — No. 3. The town is finishing a new No. 2 station and Reece said the planning process for No. 3 will take 3-5 years.
“The process for that will really be dependent on data-informed and data-driven decision making. Where are we growing? Where are calls for service, and how can we best respond within an acceptable response time standard based on emergency response,” said Reece. “Then we start looking at areas of town, generally the northwest part of town, where we can most effectively site and locate a station, and go from there.”
Also on the list of priorities is continuing Smart City Tech needs and consideration of an innovation district. That district is already in the comprehensive plan developed in 2017-18. Reece said such a district is a "multi-faceted driver" for the community.
“The comprehensive plan has identified some target areas, maybe linking the area between Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan as a realistic location for a district," she said. "I think there are great conversations that are happening with different individuals in terms of entrepreneurship and the growth of technology services, and that kind of district does require a lot of planning. It requires a lot of power, electric utility services, accessibility, visionary folks, entrepreneurship.”
She said that conversation will take 3-5 years.
Enterprise zone
Additions to the Bloomington-Normal Enterprise Zone approved by the town include a couple pieces of land already approved for new building projects. One is an area at Beech Street and Shelbourne in the Collie Ridge Subdivision, already scheduled for multi-unit residential development.
An enterprise zone is designed to offer incentives to developers to improve blighted areas, which raises the question — why offer a bonus for a project that is already planned? Reece said incentives may help get a project across the finish line.
"If these provide an opportunity to help a developer, we think it's worthwhile," she said, adding the town has approved several housing projects in the last couple of years — many of which have not begun construction because of economic challenges.
One of the additions to the Bloomington Normal Enterprise Zone is the chronically under-performing Eastland Mall in Bloomington. The town of Normal was the first governing body to approve the changes. Reece said any potential improvement of Eastland Mall would be big for the entire Twin Cities.
"If there's a great opportunity for the city of Bloomington to shepherd a redevelopment of Eastland Mall, we'll be right there helping as much as we can along the way," said Reece.
Several hundred acres will be added to the zone that offers developers breaks on sales tax on construction materials and potential property tax abatements.
The City of Bloomington, Ford County, and other entities with land in the zone also have to approve any changes.
The changes also take out nearly 100 acres of land that is unlikely to be developed. In one case, the Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District already owned it.
