Bloomington City Council revises the Economic and Community Development department

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Bloomington City Council has approved a split of the city’s Economic and Community Development department into two separate departments. 

The split will lead to the creation of the Department of Community Impact and Enhancement, tasked with focusing on grants and community development more broadly, and the Development Services Department, tasked with managing zoning and development.

According to City Manager Jeff Jurgens, the split will not require much staff restructuring within the city government.

“We’ve revised the job description and internal organization charts, but fortunately it’s just a repositioning of our already existing individual positions, so it will make for a relatively smooth transition,” Jurgens said. “A lot of the individuals who will be affected by the split will already have been doing similar work.”

Jurgens claims that the Department of Community Impact and Enhancement will continue to administrate grants the municipality is already receiving, such as funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  This department will also search for new grants, with the Economic and Community Development department split possibly leading to new grant opportunities for Bloomington and allowing the municipal government to be more focused and efficient in the grant pursuit process.

 This separation of departments will aid in the city’s reviewing of its zoning code, particularly in addressing the lack of affordable housing options and multifamily housing units. Additionally, The City of Bloomington is reviewing its code regarding accessory dwelling units, which could further provide a pathway for residents to find ample affordable housing.

Another purpose of the zoning review is to aid the ease of future development, with the municipal government trying to remove any red tape developers may face when proposing a project in Bloomington.

“We already allow some accessory dwelling units, and we’ve updated our code recently to make that a little clearer.  We’ve worked on some improvements regarding height requirements with ADUs, and it’s just going to be things like that, making sure we’re up-to-date on the latest trends while still being able to preserve the character of our neighborhoods,” Jurgens said.

A major focus of the split and reorganization is making Bloomington more business-friendly, which is being manifested through the creation of a Development Advocate position.  This position will be tasked with aiding new potential businesses’ navigation of Bloomington’s bureaucracy.

“When a business owner is potentially hitting a wall in an attempt to develop something, this is the person to help them realize all their options and their best plans of action,” Jurgens said. “Hopefully, this will help developers consider alternative solutions to problems, and overall help projects get across the finish line faster.”