Council expands Bloomington-Normal Enterprise Zone boundaries; adds roughly 342 acres

The Normal Town Council on Aug. 18 adopted an ordinance authorizing boundary modifications to the Bloomington-Normal Enterprise Zone that, as presented by staff, add roughly 342 acres to the Town of Normal portion while deleting about 95.95 acres elsewhere.

Councilmember Lawrence pressed staff for specifics about the deletions and additions and asked why Normal’s added acreage (about 342 acres) was far larger than Bloomington’s addition (about 77 acres). Mr. Duffel, a staff member working on the amendment, told the council the objective was to take “one swing” at amendment so the partners would not need repeated, lengthy boundary- amendment processes; he said staff targeted parcels that are adjacent to Normal’s boundaries or within the town and that staff identified sites seen as “best infill opportunities” or sites with active development discussions. “The big reason we wanted to take advantage of going through the amendment process one time ... and not having to go through multiple times, it can be kind of lengthy,” Duffel said.

Councilmember Lawrence asked for the likely time frame for development on added parcels; staff said one to three years was an optimistic expectation for near-term activity but acknowledged the Enterprise Zone has existed for decades and added parcels could remain undeveloped for longer. Staff noted the amendment is an incentive tool and does not dictate land use or housing types; how each parcel ultimately develops depends on separate land-use and zoning decisions.

Councilmember Smith noted that local project teams sometimes use code names in preliminary discussions and pointed to Infinity Point—an earlier project approved by council that had not begun construction—as an example of a development that could benefit from inclusion in the Enterprise Zone. Councilmember McCarthy supported the broader approach, noting prior cases where a property not included in the enterprise zone missed potential tax incentives.

City Manager Reese said the amendment process requires participation from all taxing bodies that are members of the enterprise zone and that if all partners approve the added parcels, property owners would be eligible for enterprise-zone incentives only once the amendment becomes effective; properties not yet under construction would not be retroactively awarded incentives for work already completed. The ordinance passed by roll call during the meeting.

Staff said the amendment list was compiled over roughly nine to 12 months and that some parcels were added in anticipation of developer interest or federal earmarks. Councilmembers asked for follow-up information on housing types and for staff to provide more detail in future briefings on what kinds of housing (multifamily, missing-middle, supportive housing) the town anticipates or would encourage; staff reiterated that the enterprise zone is an incentives tool and does not govern zoning or final land use.