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Government Center #M103 Home | Site Map | Contact Us |
This is the third annual progress report on implementing the recommendations of the McLean County Regional Comprehensive Plan.
The Regional Plan provides a framework for continuing regional cooperation in pursuit of socially, economically and environmentally healthy communities. Toward this end, the plan identifies a series of priority strategies to be considered by local governments during the years immediately following their adoption of the plan.
These strategies were developed using a collaborative approach with participation by all levels of government and by a wide range of citizen and private interests.
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McLean County Regional Comprehensive Plan |
One of the plan's priority strategies was the completion of annual reports on the progress made toward implementing other key strategies of the Plan. Although the Commission's role in implementing those strategies varies considerably and is sometimes limited, the Commission was identified in the plan as the agency to be responsible for coordination and monitoring of progress, including preparation of annual progress reports.
This progress report summarizes the plan's top priorities and describes the progress made on strategies scheduled to be addressed during the past three years, with emphasis on the accomplishments of this last year. It also describes other activities completed during the past year in accordance with the Commission's work program. Additionally, this report provides a brief overview of the Commission's finances associated with this work, and concludes with an outline of the principal planning activities scheduled for the coming year.
REGIONAL PRIORITIES
The top priorities for each element of the McLean County Regional Comprehensive Plan are summarized in the following paragraphs, along with the progress completed to date. The photographs and charts in this section are taken from the Regional Plan.Natural Environment
One of the plan’s top priorities for the natural environment is to identify actions and timelines for completing and implementing the regional water study initiated in the early 1990s. The goal is to identify a long term, stable public water supply for the region.
The 2002 Annual Progress Report noted that at the initiative of local elected officials, a committee of officials and staff from McLean and Tazewell County governments was formed to consider possible means of implementing a regional water system to meet the needs of communities in both counties.
Over the past year, the technical studies for developing such a system have been completed by the Farnsworth Group and presented to the local governments, for consideration of possible management and financial strategies needed for implementation.
Another priority strategy identified in the plan is to evaluate various mechanisms for preserving farmland outside planned growth areas in McLean County. An Illinois Tomorrow Planning grant was applied for by Commission staff on behalf of McLean County to fund the preparation of a land development guide which has a farmland preservation study as one of three major components. The other components are a plan for a conservation subdivision and guidelines for site design and development. The grant request was approved and the study is in progress by Commission staff in cooperation with the Commission’s Growth Advisory Committee and local planning partners.
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This strategy is intended to provide continuing support for existing soil conservation programs in order to maintain agricultural productivity and preserve water quality in McLean County. The Commission's planning programs promote sound management practices for soil, land and water. The site development component of the land development guide mentioned above will also consider conservation of soil as well as other natural resources during the development process. In addition, a number of Commission newsletters have addressed this and related topics.
Historic Preservation and Urban Revitalization
This strategy creates a model ordinance tailored to local needs to provide a guide for mixed use and traditional neighborhood design. The ordinance is intended to provide a guide for developers interested in this concept and for local governments to review such projects.
Work on this project has been completed jointly by local and regional planning and engineering staff with input from local parks and recreation staff and utility company representatives. The draft was further refined and subsequently adopted by the Town of Normal. The City of Bloomington is expected to consider the ordinance at a later date.
This strategy is intended to tailor programs specifically for downtown areas. Both Bloomington and Normal have continued to be very active in downtown revitalization and have received support from the McLean County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal Area through established business retention and development programs. Community planning activities have also continued to promote business retention and development in downtown areas.
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This or similar strategy was identified by several committees as a top priority. It emphasizes intergovernmental cooperation and agreement to guide urban growth into planned growth areas. Accordingly, efforts have been directed toward developing a joint project review process as a means to direct growth consistent with local and regional comprehensive plans. This process involves the local planning and engineering staffs in the Commission's review of major development proposals.
Efforts have resulted in maintaining a streamlined review process while encouraging development that is consistent with and supports the objectives of local and regional comprehensive plans. The output of these efforts has been a revised project review form and procedure which relates directly to the provisions of the local and regional plans. The individual project reviews are reported by the Regional Planning Commission directly to the appropriate local review bodies for consideration and action.
It is anticipated that over time further refinements will continue to be made to this joint review process.
Like the strategy described above for “Cooperative Urban Expansion,” the focus of this strategy is to direct urban growth to planned growth areas in accordance with adopted comprehensive plans. Therefore, the joint project review process discussed above also serves to support this strategy.
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The cost and revenue sharing strategy considers alternatives for local governments to share the costs of and property and sales tax revenues from future economic development. Its intent is to provide an equitable means to finance economic development and the public services required to support it. It is also intended to reduce tax generating capabilities as a motive for local land use decisions by greatly reducing competition among local governments.
Some research has been completed on this topic. It is anticipated that those findings will be presented in a future edition of this newsletter.
This strategy continues the support of business retention and recruitment programs carried out by the Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal Area. Staff serve on the Workforce Issues Committee of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce. Activities and progress related to these programs and committees are monitored and reported by the Council.
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cooperation in economic development |
The implementation strategy for geographically balanced economic development sites includes the identification and promotion of central city sites as well as fringe area sites for commercial and industrial development. Activities to date have included formulating plans for incorporating potential development sites into the regional GIS database to provide a readily accessible and comprehensive inventory of available sites. This activity has been incorporated into the coming year's work program, and will most likely be a continuing process of developing and maintaining the database, and promoting the development of available sites.
Population
This strategy was scheduled for and completed during the first year after the Regional Plan was adopted by Bloomington, Normal and McLean County. A subsequent report was published on the survey findings and summarized in the Commission's 2001 Annual Report, which is available on the Commission's web site.
The last issue of this newsletter presented a preliminary update of the population projections contained in the Regional Plan. The updated projections reflect the 2000 Census data and recent development policies determined through work with communities on local comprehensive plans.
Housing
This strategy encourages the redevelopment of homes in existing neighborhoods to strengthen those neighborhoods and provide housing alternatives. It encourages redevelopment primarily through education and outreach relevant to available programs and alternative concepts.
Since the plan was adopted, the Commission published a newsletter on housing variety and affordability, which emphasizes the use of designs that aid in redeveloping older neighborhoods as well as developing new ones.
The Commission also published a brochure on “Affordable Housing And Its Relationship To Neighboring Property Values.” This brochure describes how well- designed affordable housing can benefit both old and new neighborhoods in many ways, including increasing the values of neighboring properties.
The Commission also published a fact sheet on housing variety and affordability and participated in the locally sponsored “Old House Fair” previously held in the Fall of each year.
During this past year, housing redevelopment has continued to be an important consideration in the Commission's long range planning programs.
This strategy discourages the granting of zoning and subdivision approvals and of expenditures for housing development outside proposed growth areas. Implementation efforts have focused on enhancing the joint intergovernmental review process in use for regionally significant development projects. The intent is to devise an improved method of evaluating proposed development projects for consistency with adopted local and regional plans.
Efforts to date have produced the revised review process described earlier in this report.
This strategy allows for innovative home and neighborhood design to provide alternatives for all residents, including seniors, low to moderate income populations, and persons with disabilities. It would also allow a variety of housing setbacks, densities and street widths to provide a wider range of housing and neighborhood styles from which to choose. This strategy complements and is supported by the TND strategy described earlier in this newsletter, and by a number of previous Commission newsletters dedicated to alternative housing and neighborhood design. It is also a continuing consideration in this Commission's long range planning programs.
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Land Use
This strategy and the corresponding progress made is essentially the same as described above under the heading of “Historic Preservation and Urban Revitalization,” but was also identified as a priority strategy by the Land Use committee.
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This provides for the adoption and enforcement of site development requirements to protect environmental resources such as soils, water and tree cover in areas of residential growth. This strategy has been incorporated as a major element of the land development guide that was described earlier and is nearing completion. The site development component has included preparation of a site plan review procedure and an erosion and sedimentation control ordinance for consideration by local governments.
This strategy provides for continued comprehensive planning in the region and promotes public understanding and support for plans and the planning process through education and outreach.
Bloomington, Normal, Lexington and McLean County have each initiated or continued planning activities since the Regional Comprehensive Plan was adopted. During the past year, the Commission has also participated in completing or continuing work in the following areas of comprehensive planning:
The Commission also continues to promote comprehensive planning through its education and outreach program, of which this newsletter is a part.
Transportation
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The strategy for integrated land use and transportation planning provides for land use patterns, densities and designs that accommodate and support the development and use of alternative modes of transportation. These factors, as specifically related to streets, highways and transit service, have been incorporated into the joint project review procedure described in previous sections of this report. These factors will also continue to be important considerations in long range planning for land use and transportation development.
The access management strategy provides for the appropriate spacing of intersections, traffic signals and access points on major streets and roads. Pursuant to this strategy, Commission staff successfully applied for a grant on behalf of McLean County to fund a plan for access management. A steering committee was formed to oversee the study, which is being funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation and carried out by
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This strategy assesses needs and evaluates potential alignments for major transportation facilities in order to provide a basis for preserving needed right-of-way. It is intended to ensure housing will not be built within or too close to the rights-of-way of future roadways, so that future traffic needs can be met with minimal conflicts.
Following the Commission's receipt of a planning grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation, a corridor feasibility study was completed for a transportation facility to serve the east side of the Bloomington-Normal urban area. This study, prepared by Bernardin, Lochmueller & Associates of Charleston, produced a significant base of information for consideration by participating local units of government, which included Bloomington, Normal, McLean County, Towanda and Downs. However, this study was only the first step in determining possible long range transportation solutions for the East Side, and considerably more study will be required. Additional corridor/alignment studies for the East Side and other areas of the region will be undertaken as deemed appropriate by the local units of government.
Community Facilities
This strategy was discussed previously under the heading of "Natural Environment," but was also identified by the Community Facilities committee.
This strategy continues the practice by local governments of providing reasonable levels of investment in municipal water supply, treatment and distribution systems in order to maintain existing water systems.
This provides for agreements between two or more units of government in matters of mutual interest that cross jurisdictional boundaries. Such agreements may address annexations, service provision, economic development, planning and regulatory measures, and taxation as well as other matters. Local governments in the region have a long history of intergovernmental cooperation and agreement, which is likely to continue well into the future.
Implementation
Beyond the prioritizing and scheduling of tasks related to carrying out the strategies identified for other elements of the Regional Comprehensive Plan, the implementation element identifies two key strategies. The first is the preparation of annual progress reports, of which this report is the third of three completed to date. The second key implementation strategy is the major five-year update of the Regional Plan. The five-year update is tentatively scheduled for 2005.
OTHER PROGRAM ACTIVITIES
The Commission's work program includes a number of other activities in addition to those described above in support of the Regional Plan. Some of these activities are briefly described below.
Transportation Program
The Commission cooperates with local governments in a number of other transportation-related planning activities. The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), mandated under federal transportation legislation, is the principal instrument for coordinating the upgrading and expansion of the transportation network, including streets, roads, rail and public transit. The annual TIP includes updates regarding transportation improvements within Bloomington, Normal and urbanizing areas of McLean County, programmed for the upcoming three-year period. In formulating the TIP, the Commission fosters a regional perspective on transportation network issues, and provides a framework for intergovernmental discussion and cooperation on decisions which affect the entire region. Preparation of the Transportation Improvement Program is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Commission staff provide ongoing assistance to the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System in a number of areas. These areas include assessing transit needs and meeting state and federal reporting requirements. This assistance also includes serving on committees and advisory panels relating to the implementation of service and system enhancements and continuing efforts to increase cooperation with Illinois State University and other institutions in providing expanded transit options. Staff also administer the activities of the Transportation Advisory Committee, which provides a forum for addressing transit issues involving persons with disabilities, the economically disadvantaged, transit-dependent residents, and the community at large.
Staff also furnish technical and research support regarding transportation issues arising from local government planning efforts, including downtown renovation and improvement plans, project management, and through participation on committees regarding the multimodal center, neighborhood traffic management, workforce issues and others as required.
Geographic Information Systems
The Commission continues to coordinate the development and management of the McLean County Geographic Information System (MCGIS). MCGIS is a cooperative effort by a number of local government agencies with the common goal of improved service delivery through providing an improved base of information with less duplication of effort. Through cooperative resource management MCGIS is developing a countywide geographic information system to better serve the public and to aid decision making in many facets of local government operations, including planning, engineering, election administration, tax assessment and emergency services.
During the past year, the Cadastral Development project was completed. The cadastral data, as well as the other GIS data layers, are available to the local governments on the Intranet Map Server (IMS). Fine-tuning of the IMS is an ongoing process with new applications being developed regularly to utilize this tool. Recently developed applications include parcel, address and subdivision searches.
Acquisition of countywide high resolution color orthophotography was completed in the late Summer of 2002. One full set of photography was distributed on DVDs to each of the local governments in the GIS consortium. Each government received all the original photography as well as high compression images that allow for easier distribution of the data within each agency. A full set of countywide aerial photography fills 60 DVDs.
Technical Assistance
Technical assistance to local governments and organizations in McLean County is provided by Commission staff through service on various committees and through responding to information requests. Commission staff participate on a number of additional committees that address different community issues, including development review, ordinance preparation and review, storm water management and transit, among others.
The Commission also provides assistance to local governments in administering the solid waste program and in preparing grant applications for specific purposes.
In its capacity as a sub-state clearinghouse, the Commission also reviews and comments on applications for state and federal funding of capital improvement projects.
Education and Outreach
The Commission's education and outreach activities report on planning-related issues of potential interest to local governments, developers and the public. The intent is to increase understanding and to promote discussion and consideration of alternative solutions to community development issues and problems.
During the past year, Commission staff continued the VISIONS Newsletter program and continued maintenance of the Commission library and website. The website was used to facilitate public review of the annual Transportation Improvement Program and the East Side Corridor Transportation Feasibility Study.
FINANCES
The Commission’s revenue of over $1,115,000 was received through a variety of sources as illustrated in Figure 1. Funding is provided by federal and state grants, and by local governments through intergovernmental agreements for Commission services.
Regional service agreements with Bloomington, Normal and McLean County support Commission activities, such as contract administration and education and outreach. These agreements also provide matching shares for local, state and federal planning funds.
Technical service agreements with local units of government provide funding for specific planning related services such as development of comprehensive community plans.
Commission finances are also often significantly impacted by contracts administered on behalf of local governments for professional services. This was again the case in Fiscal Year 2003 (FY 03), as revenue received from local governments for payment to professional service contractors for cadastral mapping, aerial photography and solid waste management comprised the largest single source of revenue. Next was revenue received from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to support the Commission’s transportation program. The regional service agreements category was next, followed by technical service agreements and planning grants.
Total disbursements exceeded $1,055,000. At over fifty-four percent, professional service costs comprised the greatest portion of the Commission’s disbursements, followed by personnel costs at nearly thirty-seven percent. Professional services consisted primarily of the professional service contracts noted above.
THE YEAR AHEAD
Along with the completion or continuation of a number of FY 2003 projects, the following new projects are included in the Commission’s work program for the coming year:
