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This annual report reviews the priority strategies identified in the McLean County Regional Comprehensive Plan and reports on the progress made by the Region’s planning partners toward implementing those strategies, which are designed to enhance the local quality of life. This report also provides an overview of other Commission work activities and finances of the past year, as well as some of the activities scheduled for the coming year.

The Children's Discovery Museum in Normal neared completion in this September photo. The new museum is an important part of Normal's downtown development program.

The first strategy identified was the completion of the regional water study. Following further study of this issue, the City of Bloomington, Town of Normal and County of McLean continue to participate in discussions with other officials in McLean and Tazewell Counties concerning the development of a regional water system to help ensure the long-range water supply needs of the Region are met. Efforts are currently focused on devising a mechanism to finance development of the system.

The farmland preservation strategy of the Regional Comprehensive Plan encourages preservation of farmland outside of planned growth areas through a combination of zoning mechanisms, conservation easements, urban infill, and creative development and revitalization.

An Illinois Tomorrow Grant was awarded on behalf of McLean County to prepare a Land Development Guide. A draft of the development guide is nearing completion and will include site development guidelines, a plan for a conservation subdivision and a report outlining growth management strategies, including farmland preservation.

The urban stormwater management plans for Bloomington, Normal, McLean County and Bloomington-Normal Water Reclamation District were also an outgrowth of this project.

Farmland preservation is also a consideration in the Commission’s long range planning programs and in the reviews of proposed development projects.

The site development guidelines component of the Land Development Guide referenced above also addresses soil conservation and resulted in the completion of a draft erosion control ordinance for consideration by Bloomington, Normal, and McLean County. The draft ordinance was prepared by the Intergovernmental Development Committee consisting of local and regional planning and engineering staff.

As reported previously, a model traditional neighborhood development ordinance was also prepared by the Intergovernmental Development Committee. The model ordinance was subsequently modified for local use and adopted by the Town of Normal. The City of Bloomington will consider modification and adoption as needed. The ordinance would provide a guide for developers interested in this concept, which places greater emphasis on public areas and open space through clustering and mixed use development, narrower streets and shorter setbacks.

The City of Bloomington and Town of Normal each continued to make significant progress in this area. The Bloomington Cultural District contracted with a consultant and began a fundraising campaign to assist in funding the planned improvements. The Cultural District also made progress in developing plans for a Festival Park to be located at the entrance to the site.

Rendering of Festival Park

Construction began on Bloomington's Sports and Entertainment Center. Final budgets were approved that will include street improvements and construction of a parking garage in addition to the planned 7,000-seat multi-purpose arena.

Other developers and owners of downtown properties have renovated buildings to include loft apartments and duplexes on upper floors. Interior renovation also continued on the Ensenberger Building, which will include commercial and residential amenities once it is totally refurbished.

The Children's Discovery Museum neared completion in Normal. The museum is one of the new facilities that will be part of the Town's downtown renovation efforts. The Town also moved forward in selecting a designer and developer for a planned downtown hotel. Additionally, the Town continued its efforts to develop a multi-modal center and acquire property for downtown redevelopment.

This strategy is a composite of several similar strategies identified by plan committees to encourage continued cooperation in guiding urban growth. In support of this strategy, Regional Planning staff participated on a regular basis with local staff on the Intergovernmental Development Committee to address regionally significant development projects and other related issues.

In the consistency review process, proposed developments of five acres or more are examined by the Committee for consistency with adopted City, Town and Regional comprehensive plans. In Fiscal Year 2004, nine projects were reviewed by the Committee. Seven of these were initially determined to meet minimal consistency requirements, with most providing some optional features as well. All seven projects were approved by the respective local government. One of the remaining two projects was later revised and eventually approved. The other project has not yet been resubmitted.

The Development Impact Study, which is discussed in the “Land Use section” of this report, features suggestions on how to further upgrade the consistency review process.

This is essentially the long range planning component of the cooperative urban expansion strategy discussed above. It provides for continuing and cooperative comprehensive planning among McLean County governments to preserve and enhance the local quality of life.

In 2004, the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal comprehensive plans were updated concurrently to help ensure consistency. Drafts of the updated plans are nearing completion as of the printing of this report.

The City of Lexington comprehensive plan was also recently updated. Lexington city officials have reviewed the draft plan and publication of the final report is in progress. This is the first update of Lexington's Comprehensive Plan since 1965. The map of the development plan for Lexington is featured on page 5 of this report.

The purpose of cost and revenue sharing is to ease the cost burden of providing infrastructure for new economic development, and to help compensate jurisdictions that may lose business and corresponding tax base as a result of economic development in a nearby jurisdiction.

This strategy would provide for the sharing among area jurisdictions of infrastructure development costs, and of revenues from increased property and sales taxes that result from future economic development projects within the region. Additional research is planned on this issue.

Traditional neighborhood design places greater emphasis on public areas and open space through clustering and mixed uses as well as narrower streets and shorter setbacks.

Business retention and recruitment is a function of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Council of the Bloomington-Normal Area. The Chamber of Commerce targets twenty McLean County area business executives for visits annually to gauge the local business environment. The EDC is responsible for recruiting businesses to the area and also does business retention through its specific programming.

Activities and progress of these programs are reported to the respective City and Town councils, by council members who serve on Chamber and EDC Committees and by appropriate Chamber and EDC staff.

This strategy includes promoting and listing sites that may be used for central city or infill development as opposed to limiting site considerations to the metropolitan fringes for commercial and industrial development. Consideration has also been given to incorporating potential development sites into the regional GIS database in order to enhance access to a comprehensive inventory of available sites and related information such as physical characteristics and availability of infrastructure.

This strategy was initially completed during 2000 with assistance from the Commission’s Growth Advisory Committee. A report that included a discussion of growth alternatives was published on the population survey in 2001. Population projections were subsequently refined in 2004 using 2000 Census data and assumptions formulated during the process of developing the Bloomington, Normal and Lexington Comprehensive Plans. The Town of Normal has indicated it is considering doing a special census in 2005 to update its current population figures.

The Community Center in downtown Lexington is a community gathering place. An update of Lexington's Comprehensive Plan was completed in 2004.

This strategy encourages the redevelopment of housing and the renovation of neighborhoods through planning and education and outreach.

Since completion of the Regional Plan, the Commission has published newsletter articles on housing and a brochure on affordable housing and its relationship to neighboring property values, which describes how well-designed affordable housing can benefit all types of neighborhoods, both old and new.

The Commission also promotes housing redevelopment through its comprehensive planning programs and through participation in the Community Advocacy Network Needs Assessment Program. Commission staff served on the Community Assessment of Needs (CAN) Committee that included an examination of housing needs in McLean County.

Housing redevelopment is also a priority of the Bloomington and Normal Community Development departments.

Similar to several other priority strategies identified by different plan committees, this strategy encourages the approval of re-zoning and subdivision requests for housing development projects located within planned growth areas. Implementation efforts have focused on enhancing the intergovernmental project review process currently in use.

The Regional Planning Commission continues to accommodate alternative design concepts for residential and commercial development in its planning programs in order to encourage a wider range of options available to home buyers and renters. The traditional neighborhood development (TND) ordinance is one example, as it allows for a variety of building setbacks, densities, and street widths that may provide a wide range of housing styles and costs. The conservation subdivision is another example. This concept incorporates more open space into neighborhoods.

This strategy was also identified as a priority by the “Land Use” plan committee as well as the “Historic Preservation and Urban Revitalization” committee, and was described earlier.

In order to protect natural and environmental resources such as soils, water and tree cover, adoption of site development guidelines was identified as a priority strategy. This strategy is a component of the Land Development Guide that was reported on earlier under “Natural Environment.”

This study examines the costs of urban sprawl and presents alternatives for sustainable development in an area identified for future urban growth in the McLean County Regional Comprehensive Plan. It also includes development review recommendations to assist local governments in evaluating proposed urban development projects. An initial draft of the project report has been completed by the consultant and reviewed by the Advisory Committee.

Comprehensive Planning

This strategy promotes public understanding and support of the comprehensive planning process and provides for continued planning in McLean County.

The Regional Planning Commission has completed or continued work on the following planning projects over the past year: Urban Storm Water Management Plan, Erosion and Sedimentation Control Ordinance, McLean County Land Development Guide, Development Impact Study, Greenways Coordination, Route 66 Bikeway Coordination, Long Range Transportation Plan for the Bloomington-Normal Urban Area, Access Management Plan and updates of the Bloomington, Normal and Lexington Comprehensive plans.

The Commission also continues to promote comprehensive planning through education and outreach, including publication of the VISIONS Newsletter.

This strategy provides for land use patterns, densities and designs that accommodate and support the use of alternative modes of transportation within McLean County. The project review procedure discussed previously also considers transportation accessibility for bicycle, pedestrian and transit service, as well as automobile access.

Access Management

Access management involves the development of standards, plans and ordinances for the appropriate spacing of intersections, traffic signals and access points on major streets and roads. Under the direction of a local government steering committee, a study has been conducted with the assistance of a consultant, resulting in a report and draft ordinances for consideration by the City of Bloomington, Town of Normal and County of McLean.

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 identify and provide the basis to preserve the right-of-way for future roadways to ensure future traffic needs can be met with minimal conflicts and costs.

The local governments have adopted a resolution to further study transportation needs on the east side of the urban area. This is a follow-up to the East Side Corridor Feasibility Study completed in 2003. Funding for such a study will be derived primarily from federal transportation grants and thus must await the resolution of the omnibus transportation funding reauthorization currently under consideration in the United States Congress.

The Village of Downs has applied for funding under the Illinois Tomorrow planning grant program to conduct a study of possible roadway enhancements in the area surrounding the Village.

This strategy was also identified as a priority by the “Community Facilities” committee and was discussed earlier under the “Natural Environment” section.

This strategy supports the continuing practice of local governments providing reasonable levels of investment in municipal water supply, treatment and distribution systems to keep pace with projected service area populations.

Intergovernmental Cooperation

The newly renovated Government Center in downtown Bloomington is an excellent example of intergovernmental cooperation between the City of Bloomington and the County of McLean. Such cooperation likely will continue due to the mutual benefits derived.

Newly renovated Government Center in downtown Bloomington.

Two key implementation strategies identified in the Regional Plan include preparation of annual progress reports and a five-year update of the Regional Comprehensive Plan. This report is the fourth annual progress report made on plan implementation since completion of the Regional Comprehensive Plan. The next update of the Regional Comprehensive Plan is scheduled for 2005.

In FY 2004, the Commission's work program included a number of other projects and activities as described below.

Mandated under federal transportation legislation, the TIP is the principal tool for coordinating the upgrading and expansion of the metropolitan transportation network. This includes streets, roads, rail and public transit. The annual TIP updates the three-year capital improvements program for transportation projects within Bloomington-Normal and the urbanized areas of McLean County. Preparation of the TIP is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation and maintains the area’s eligibility for federal transportation funds.

Public transportation considerations remained a focus of planning efforts in 2004.

Commission staff also provide ongoing assistance to the Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System in several areas. These include assessing transit needs and meeting state and federal reporting requirements. This assistance also includes service by staff on committees and advisory panels relating to transportation service and system enhancements. The program promotes cooperation with Illinois State University and other institutions in providing transit options. In the past year, Bloomington-Normal Public Transit has expanded fixed route coverage, instituted universal access to the system for Illinois State University students, faculty and staff, and begun a contract-based campus shuttle for the university.

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.

Regional Planning staff furnish technical and research support on a variety of other transportation issues, including neighborhood traffic management, intelligent transportation systems, and others as required.

The Regional Planning Commission in cooperation with the McLean County Greenways Advisory Committee promotes the implementation of priority greenways identified in the McLean County Regional Greenways Plan.

The Historic Route 66 Bikeway is one of the plan’s priorities. This project continued to make progress with Phase I Engineering studies nearing completion for the southern section of the Bikeway. Commission staff also provided assistance to the City of Lexington in exploring a jurisdictional transfer of Illinois Department of Transportation right-of-way that will form a segment of the Route 66 Bikeway.

The "Guide To McLean County Greenways And Trails" was completed during the year and distributed to local recreational agencies and businesses throughout the Bloomington-Normal community and other associations advocating greenway initiatives. The brochure features McLean County trails, and public recreation areas and natural areas in the County.

Coordination and management of the McLean County Geographic Information System (MCGIS) remains a primary responsibility of the Commission. Following last year’s completion of the digital conversion of the countywide cadastral database, a program was established to maintain the database and develop a new map book for use by the GIS partners in McLean County. Recent GIS industry changes required extensive modifications to the database and development of detailed maintenance specifications to enable proper maintenance by the consultant.

Other GIS related projects of the past year included a cost justification study, a new layout for the Bloomington-Normal street map, a custom program for converting streets data into a format compatible with the E-911 computer aided dispatch software, and improving street map maintenance from an annual to a quarterly schedule.

Commission staff provide technical assistance in a variety of planning related areas. These include comprehensive planning, mapping, ordinance review, grant writing, and information services including responding to requests for census and other information. As a sub-state clearinghouse, the Commission also reviews and comments on applications for state and federal funding of area capital improvement projects.

This program area includes activities that communicate planning concepts and the mission and services of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission to business and community leaders and the public. This is accomplished through planning reports, newsletters, informational brochures, fact sheets, slide and video presentations, press releases, and the Commission website.

The McLean County Regional Planning Commission moved into the new Government Center building in August of 2004 along with many other County and City agencies. The Commission’s new address is 115 E. Washington St. #M103, Bloomington, IL 61701.

The Commission’s revenue of over $926,000 was received through a variety of sources. Funding is provided by federal and state grants, technical service contracts and regional service agreements.

Regional service agreements with Bloomington, Normal and McLean County support Commission activities and provide matching shares for local, state and federal planning funds.

Commission finances were again significantly impacted by contracts administered on behalf of local governments for professional services, especially GIS. Revenue from technical service contracts exceeded all other sources, followed by Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), regional service agreements, grants and other. The GIS revenues included funds provided by local governments for outside consultants to complete projects such as aerial photography and cadastral mapping and maintenance.

Disbursements for the year totaled more than $814,000. Personnel costs accounted for half of the Commission’s total disbursements, followed by professional services, office and training expenses.

In addition to continuing the Commission’s ongoing programs and completing projects currently in progress, the major new project envisioned to begin during the coming year is the update of the McLean County Regional Comprehensive Plan as prescribed in the current plan’s implementation schedule.