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 and manage the property long term and emphasized design choices and added open space. “We’re proposing 15 units per acre where R‑3 zoning allows up to 23 units per acre,” Netzer said, and noted the proposal shows 41% common recreation space versus the 12% minimum the code requires.

Neighbors raised multiple concerns: traffic and the age of baseline counts, the size and height of the proposed buildings, potential light and noise impacts on backyards, and whether private subdivision covenants should block the project. Several speakers said the traffic data relied on older counts and that on nearby Towanda Avenue and Fort Jesse wait times are already lengthy. One resident, Kylie Shoemaker, age 10, asked councilors, “Will 19 new apartments really bring more value to Normal than the peace of mind knowing kids can play safely?”

Staff and the project’s traffic consultant addressed scope and methodology: the study used normalized 2015 counts in part because 2020 IDOT counts reflected reduced travel during the COVID period; Farnsworth Engineers also analyzed the Shelbourne/Beach intersection using peak‑hour counts taken within 30–45 days of the meeting and concluded the longest additional delay would be about four seconds per vehicle. Davidson also said the developer accounted for background growth and other nearby developments in the study.

On design details, the plan includes two detention areas (a wet and a dry basin) and new landscaping and lighting plans. The applicant removed an internal vehicular connection to Vanderbilt Drive after neighborhood feedback and agreed to extend Vanderbilt as a public cul‑de‑sac serving two new single‑family homes and some duplex lots. Davidson noted one building does not meet a non‑PUD backyard setback that would otherwise be 45 feet; in the PUD configuration that building would be 34 feet from the property line.

The Normal Planning Commission had recommended approval with one recommended change: reduce the height of four apartment buildings bordering single‑family lots from three stories to two. Staff continued to recommend approval as submitted and told council there are multiple precedents in Normal where three‑story multifamily sits adjacent to single‑family homes. Attorney Pat Fitzgerald, representing Worthington LLC, argued the proposal aligns with the town’s 2017 Comprehensive Plan, which the firm said calls for diverse infill housing on remaining vacant lots.

Council members debated the tradeoffs between neighborhood concerns and regional housing need cited by the Bloomington‑Normal Economic Development Council. Patrick Hoban, CEO of the Bloomington Normal Economic Development Council, had told the council earlier that the area faces a multi‑thousand‑unit housing shortfall tied to recent job growth.

After discussion the council voted to approve: the rezoning ordinance, the amended preliminary subdivision plan, and the conditional approval of the Essex PUD preliminary development plan. Each roll call recorded “Aye” from Councilmembers Preston, Byers, Roberge, Smith, McCarthy and Mayor Coos.

The approvals are conditional and include plan details the council and staff will use for final reviews; staff noted PUD interiors (roadways and many amenities) will be privately owned and maintained and that the short extension of Vanderbilt Drive will become a public street maintained by the town. The council noted that private covenants are separate legal instruments; staff said those covenants do not control the town’s zoning action and that the applicant provided documents the town judged to address a prior covenant concern.

The council’s approvals move the project into the next stages of final engineering, permitting and final platting. The applicant and staff will continue design work to respond to technical review and to finalize construction and maintenance responsibilities.