Urbana council adopts Imagine Urbana comprehensive plan after amendment narrowing protections for select historic neighborhoods

The Urbana City Council voted July 28 to adopt Imagine Urbana, the city’s proposed 20‑year comprehensive plan, approving the ordinance after a council amendment that narrowed a proposed citywide preservation clause to three named historic neighborhoods. The ordinance passed on a unanimous roll call after earlier votes on amendment language split the council.

Council members and dozens of residents debated the plan for more than two hours, with public commenters sharply divided. Proponents said the plan supplies a needed framework to guide housing, transit and walkability as university enrollment and development pressures rise. Opponents said the plan would accelerate conversion of single‑family homes into rentals and urged more neighborhood‑level study before adoption.

The vote followed an amendment from Council member Mary Alice Wu that originally would have inserted language to “preserve existing single unit or duplex zoning where it currently…