ABOVE: Danville City Council Public Services Committee and public services entities prepare to hear latest Danville 2050 Comprehensive Plan at Tuesday evening meeting.
After taking in more that 800 public comments during various open houses around the city, Rockford based developer Place Foundry has presented their latest draft of the Danville 2050 Comprehensive Plan to the City Council’s Public Services Committee.
The plan covers everything from safety and infrastructure, to land use and development, to transportation and housing, and more. One point Place Foundry’s David Sidney made during the presentation was that despite Danville having dropped in population from over 42,000 to the 29,000 mark; plus now having 1,732 less occupied homes than 23 years ago; he does not see a reason to shrink the actual size of Danville.
AUDIO: And what we found in our process is that if you prioritize key corridors, key areas of the community; that becomes a force multiplier. That’s how the revenue increases, and being able to have the ability to invest in infrastructure.
When Alderman Doug Ahrens recently announced his candidacy for mayor in the spring of 2027 election, he mentioned a desire and need to make Danville smaller. Ahrens says while he realizes a developer coming up with a plan is unlikely to say that, he does agree that proper priorities is the key to the future.
AUDIO: We’ve lost the people. We’ve lost some of the locations that supported those people. And so I think, instinctively; sure, we’d love to see it all get filled in. But that’s, in my opinion not realistic. So that’s something we’ll have to address. The prioritization process is I think what will be one of the key elements outside of the plan. Where do the resources come from to enact some of the things that the city and the council all agree need to happen?
(1st Picture) Place Foundry’s David Sidney (front) speaks to Council committee while Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk (back) looks on. (2nd Picture) Danville mayoral candidates and aldermen Tricia Teague (second from left) and Doug Ahrens (second from right) listen to presentation.
Mayoral candidate Alderwoman Tricia Teague stated that she very much liked what she heard from Place Foundry, and plans to explore the plan further. Especially the part about attracting smaller size industry to Danville, rather than larger size.
AUDIO: If it were going to come here, it would have been here already. We’ve been trying to attract large manufacturers since General Motors left 25-30 years ago. Small manufacturing; small business development. We can be a transportation hub relating to our rail. He didn’t say that out loud, but that is in the presentation. And I’m looking forward to taking a deeper dive into all of the information.
Sidney pointed to Vermilion Regional Airport as a great area for certain smaller size manufacturing.
AUDIO: Going to be more of a global manufacturer, and how they’re getting their product to market. And, of course, getting it by road; but also being able to get their product to customers by air.
Sidney concluded Tuesday’s presentation to the committee talking about Danville having strong potential, and needing to have more belief in itself. For Community Development Administrator Logan Cronk, more belief has been the plan all along.
AUDIO: Changing the vision of Danville, online and in our own community; is one of the main aspects of this plan. And you can see that the City of Danville has been doing that, and I think the community is starting to rally around it. But this plan is to sort of reignite the fire behind the community to do just that.
Place Foundry’s plan goes before the Danville Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday, July 2nd; for a possible recommendation to the City Council. Then, the plan will be heard by first the Public Works Committee, and then the full Council, during the month of July.
