McLean County residents and planners spar over draft regional land use map

Several McLean County residents pressed the Land Use and Transportation Committee on Tuesday to delay adoption of a draft strategic land use plan they say mislabels private property and lacks adequate rural outreach.

The public comments — and subsequent questions from county board members — focused on how the McLean County Regional Planning Commission produced a future land use map that included extensive areas the commission labeled for industrial or residential development. “Our voices and votes are too frequently lost to the wants of the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal,” one public commenter said during the meeting.

The plan’s lead presenter, Anthony Baumann, community planner for the McLean County Regional Planning Commission (MCRPC), told the committee the document is meant as a guiding vision and not a zoning change. “This plan does not change or regulate zoning,” Baumann said, adding the map is intended to provide updated spatial information for local governments and will be incorporated into future comprehensive-plan updates.

Why it matters: Residents said the map labels private farmland for future residential or industrial use without sufficient local notice or consultation, particularly in unincorporated and rural areas. The committee’s role, under county code chapter…