Edwardsville Mayor Hal PattonEDWARDSVILLE -There is considerable excitement within City of Edwardsville officials with the recent adoption of the I-55 Corridor Development Code and Map at the Edwardsville Council meeting on July 19.

Planning for the I-55 Corridor area began in 2003 when Edwardsville, Glen Carbon, and Madison County partnered on an Illinois Department of Transportation grant to create a Transportation and Growth Management Plan.

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By 2006, all three communities had amended their comprehensive plans to reflect the recommendations of the “I-55 Corridor Plan.” Planning for future growth of the I-55 corridor area continued between 2007 and 2011 via a community-driven planning initiative to create a comprehensive development code and zoning map.

Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton is ecstatic about the new I-55 Corridor Development Code and Map.

“The Development Code creates opportunities,” Mayor Patton said. “The diversity of those opportunities will result in not just ‘growth,’ but the kind of high quality development that will attract and retain jobs, people and ideas that the I-55 Corridor will depend on for continued success of our communities well into the future.”

Edwardsville City Administrator Tim Harr said that “During the development code review process, it was understood that concerns or policies in one community might differ in a partnering community.  What is encouraging to me is that the two municipalities and Madison County persevered and didn’t lose sight of what we originally set out to do. It is a credit to those involved that we stayed on point and got the big picture right.”

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By late 2011, elected and appointed officials were working with I-55 Corridor residents, property owners, builders, developers, business owners and community leaders in review of a draft development code which established zoning districts and architectural standards. Over the intervening years,more than 15 public meetings occurred to field comments and concerns from the public. The Development Code adopted on July 19, 2016, is a reflection of this 13-year community planning process. Edwardsville now joins Glen Carbon and Madison County having adopted the I-55 Corridor Development Code.

The I-55 Corridor Development Code and Map is unique in a number of ways:

The I-55 Corridor area is comprised of approximately 7.5 square miles, placing it among the seven largest Form Based Codes (FBCs) in Illinois in area (Source: www.placemakers.com). It is generally bounded by I-70/I-270 (south), Old Troy Road and District Drive (west), Staunton Road (east), and properties ½ mile north of IL 143/Marine Road on both sides of I-55 (north).

This area is anticipated to capture a significant percentage of new development in Madison County in the coming years and will serve as an employment hub for new jobs, a recreational destination for residents and visitors to Edwardsville/Glen Carbon area, and “home” to many who will live in the area’s variety of housing options.

The I-55 Corridor area crosses the jurisdictional boundaries of three units of government: Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Madison County. While there are a handful of examples in Illinois of two or more communities sharing a common development code, the I-55 Corridor Development Code is far more comprehensive: “The result of the cooperation on the I-55 Development Code between these three governments means a level playing field in the type and quality of development that can be expected in the years to come,” said Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton. “A development environment where there is a predictable outcome is a ‘win-win’ for current taxpayers and future investors alike.”

Except for some minor differences, the adopted I-55 Development Code is identical in all Edwardsville, Glen Carbon and Madison County. For example, while Edwardsville has a Form Based Code that addresses “small box retailers” and establishes minimum single family residential requirements, these provisions do not detract from a result which adheres to the original intent of the I-55 Corridor planning effort: To offer development options that are viable, rewarding, and provide a development plan with a clear path to implementation.

Edwardsville’s version of the I-55 Corridor Development Code and Map can be found by following the link on the city’s homepage at www.cityofedwardsville.com or by visiting the Madison County Planning and Development I-55 page at http://www.co.madison.il.us/departments/planning_and_development/i-55_corridor_plan.php  For more information, please contact City Planner Scott Hanson, AICP, at 618-692-7535.

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