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Regional planning commission releases second draft of county land-use plan; public review open through Oct. 22
Summary
McLean County Regional Planning staff released a second draft of the Strategic Land Use Plan for public review, announced two October open houses and summarized concurrent transportation planning efforts including the Go Safe McLean County Action Plan update and the Veterans Parkway plan.
Ray Lai of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission and staff said the second draft of the Strategic Land Use Plan was released for public review on Sept. 22 and is open for comment through Oct. 22. Anthony Baumann, MCRPC staff, told the committee that notifications went to local media and more than 2,000 subscribers; two open houses are scheduled for Oct. 14 at the Downs Community Fire Department and Oct. 16 at Heartland Community College.
"The second draft of the Strategic Land Use Plan is out," Anthony Baumann said. He described the outreach channels and said staff expect to compile public comments and prepare a final draft around Oct. 31 for official review and adoption.
Lai and Baumann also briefed the committee on two transportation planning efforts. The Go Safe McLean County Action Plan update, funded in part by IDOT and federal grants, was adopted by the Regional Planning Commission on Sept. 24 and will be used to guide safety-focused implementation. Lai described the plan’s adoption and said staff hope to continue implementation with a local project steering committee and further public messaging.
The Veterans Parkway planning effort is a federally funded, two-year project intended to redesign the corridor to be multimodal and safer; Lai said the plan is due for completion in September 2026 and that staff are scheduling public open houses in early November as part of the second round of engagement.
Committee members raised questions about public engagement levels. Maurice (committee member) asked why response rates to surveys were low; Lai acknowledged limited returns on some surveys and said staff supplement public comment with technical data (IDOT crash statistics and other analyses) and direct outreach including county fairs and township meetings. Lai told the committee that some topics draw more public comment when they become controversial and that MCRPC will form implementation task forces and continue targeted outreach for safety projects.
Staff asked administration to circulate open-house flyers to committee members and said the MCRPC web page contains draft materials and links to comment forms. The committee did not take action on the plan during the meeting; staff requested that members attend the open houses and share information with constituents.
