The Urbana City Council Committee of the Whole voted July 21 to send Ordinance No. 2025-04-013, the Imagine Urbana comprehensive plan, to the full City Council for final consideration.

The plan was forwarded after a staff presentation and more than an hour of public comment from residents, neighborhood advocates and developers. Staff described the plan as a “living document” and said the text was edited to be more inclusive, for example changing “Urbana needs housing of all types and at all price points” to “Urbana needs more housing for people of all ages and income levels.” Kevin Garcia, principal planner, reviewed those edits and said they are intended to guide later zoning work rather than automatically change parcel-level rules.

Supporters who spoke during public comment said the plan could increase housing options and improve walkability. Tony Crispin, an Urbana resident, said, “This is a very modest step forward.” Opponents and neighborhood residents urged more protections for long-standing single‑family areas and clearer, more accessible plan materials; several speakers asked for more neighborhood-level engagement before Council approval.

Discussion in the Committee focused on Neighborhood 1 (N1) place-type language that some residents said should explicitly preserve existing single‑family and duplex zoning. Council member Mary Alice offered an amendment to change the N1 definition to explicitly preserve existing single‑family and duplex zoning and to remove the corridor‑neighborhood designation along Lincoln; that amendment failed on a roll call vote (Wu and Evans voted yes; Colasetti, Bishop and Wilkin voted no).

The main motion to forward the ordinance passed on roll call (Wu and Evans voted no; Colasetti, Bishop and Wilkin voted yes). Grace moved the motion and Chandra seconded it.

City staff told the committee that the plan does not itself rezone property. Any zoning changes would follow in separate processes that require Plan Commission hearings and City Council action. Staff also said the plan includes a short‑term action to pursue a small‑area plan for the Philo Road corridor and budgeted $125,000 in the current fiscal year to begin a zoning ordinance update; a housing study is also planned to follow adoption.

What happens next: the ordinance will appear on the regular City Council agenda for final action. If adopted, staff indicated they will move next into the housing study, small‑area planning for Philo Road and a zoning ordinance update; all three processes will include additional public hearings and opportunities for input.

Additional context: residents and several emailed submissions pressed for clearer printed materials and for the city to publish the raw public‑input summaries used to draft Imagine Urbana. Staff said printed copies are available at the city clerk’s office and the Urbana Free Library and that the plan will continue to be revised through public processes.