Normal council approves Essex PUD rezoning after hours of public comment

The Normal Town Council approved an ordinance rezoning about 19.5 acres at the northeast corner of Beach Street and Shelbourne Drive and conditionally approved preliminary subdivision and PUD plans for the Essex development on May 19.

The action follows roughly three hours of public comment in which neighbors urged the council to deny the rezoning or postpone a decision. Many speakers described the land as intended for single‑family homes and said they bought their properties expecting that low‑density use. Others supported the project as infill housing needed to address the town’s housing shortage.

Town Planner Mercy Davidson described the proposal as a mixed plan: two single‑family lots and a string of 0‑lot duplexes in an R‑2 tract and a one‑lot planned unit development of approximately 252 residential units in the larger tract, with townhomes along the east edge and multifamily buildings elsewhere. “The total density would be just under 15 units per acre, which is significantly lower than what code would permit,” Davidson said, and staff recommended approval because the plan meets zoning and comprehensive‑plan goals for infill.

Developer Andy Netzer, president of Young America Realty and representative of Worthington LLC, told the council his group intends to hold…