PEORIA, Ill. – The creators of the Peoria County 200+ plan are relying heavily on public input to help form land use recommendations to advise future community leaders as part of the county’s long-range plan. A June 16 open house at the Peoria County Farm Bureau (PCFB) auditorium offered members and other residents an opportunity to help refine key draft recommendations for the plan, which is expected to be affirmed later this year.

“The county’s long-range plan has not been updated since 2009,” said Andrew Braun, director of the Peoria County Planning and Zoning department. “There have been so many changes, whether in demographics, land use or technology, and we felt our old plan was slipping out of date. What we want to focus on is how we can transition from our bicentennial, which we called Peoria County 200, and move that momentum into the future. That’s how we came up with Peoria County 200+ to shape what the future of Peoria County is going to look like.”

Braun noted that before the Peoria County Board will consider the recommendations gleaned from Peoria 200+ survey results, it was crucial to seek the agricultural community’s input. “I think the farm community is probably the most important community in Peoria County,” he said. “We’ve been partners with the farm bureau on their educational series, podcasts and other relationship building activities. Our committees and boards are well represented with farm bureau members. We think it is important because farm bureau members represent unincorporated parts of Peoria County in the best way possible and allows us to reach all corners of the county.”

PCFB Manager Charlie Hensley, who filled out the survey online, explained that many county farm bureau members are familiar with the county’s planning and zoning department and enjoy an excellent relationship with their staff. As for the next decade or more of land usage, Hensley said many members are unsure what the future will bring in terms of rural development.

“You have to keep a lot of things in mind; obviously there is renewable energy that farmers and landowners are considering in rural Peoria County. Those things we have to be mindful of, and the county does an excellent job of working with landowners and farm bureau members in educating the public. Our (goal) is to inform people about the right way to approach those projects and inform people about their rights as landowners,” he said.

Sarah Kelly, director of Planning NEXT, a Columbus, Ohio, marketing firm hired by Peoria County to move the Peoria 200+ plan forward, said the survey results will give board members firsthand insight into how residents and farmers want the county to evolve over time.

“We know this is a county that has a lot of assets in agricultural areas, in villages, in recreational opportunities, and this plan will try to identify what assets are most important to the county and how to preserve them for the long term,” Kelly said. “We also know that things are always changing, and the county may have some opportunities to implement some of that change. There are some things that we think we are going to put forth in this plan that are going to be a little more proactive in nature.

“There are a lot of pressures on agriculture with different land uses that might not always align well. A plan like this can help define what the future of agriculture could look like, and this is a way of getting ahead of some of these trends.”

The survey will also seek to identify revenue-producing locations and industries that could serve to increase future tax and employment bases, she added. “We’re talking about commercial and other types of uses that could bring jobs to the county. Rather than having a scattershot approach of just taking what we can get, a plan like this can (identify) the locations in the county that really make the most sense. For example, locations that have infrastructure, locations that have good transportation access or surrounding uses that are going to be compatible,” Kelly said. 

Braun said the county board is likely to adopt the Peoria County 200+ committee recommendations as soon as September. A string of eight scheduled Peoria County 200+ open houses ended June 18, but Peoria County residents can still fill out the survey through the end of June at  https://peoriacounty200plus.com/round2survey/.