The Normal Planning Commission held a public hearing Thursday on a new site plan for the Rivian expansion currently in development, and endorsed, with some reluctance, rezoning at the Trails on Sunset Lake subdivision.

The Normal Town Council approved a previous site plan for the Rivian expansion last month. These new, more specific site plans also need the council's approval because it involves more than 20 acres zoned for manufacturing.

The expansion would extend West College Avenue west of Rivian Motorway, and build two new distribution hubs and a storage facility.

"Rivian is proposing to develop two lots on the west side of Rivian Motorway, and it would be two separate buildings that would be just over a million square feet each, and they would be some sort of logistics and light manufacturing and assembly," town planner Mercy Davison told WGLT. "They would both be accessed off of College, which would be extended west of Rivian Motorway."

Town officials say the proposed expansion "promotes economic viability" for the town and the surrounding area. Staff recommendations did not include any building appearance requirements.

"They are what they are," said Davison of the proposed buildings. "It will be as tasteful as you can do with a large development."

Some neighboring property owners expressed concerns at the hearing about noise and light pollution, as well as storm water drainage.

A Rivian representative assured residents the electric vehicle manufacturer has conducted a "full topography" of the area, and that the company "will continue to accept that storm water onto our site."

Rivian plans to include greenery in its expansion to combat concerns about light pollution, though residents remain skeptical.

Shawn Hoeft, who lives on a farm next to the proposed expansion site, also expressed environmental concerns, saying it's important to the farmers in the area to "try to be good stewards of the land."

Hoeft went on to say that "McLean County has literally the richest farmland in the United States," so taking some to use it for this purpose may be unwise.

Also Thursday, the commission continued a previous public hearing about a proposal to amend the zoning code related to the Trails at Sunset Lake subdivision from single family residential to mixed residential to allow a developer to build town homes in the area.

The homeowners association there has some objections to the proposal, arguing it goes against its own covenants to keep the neighborhood single-family residential. The association's lawyer argued there is case law in Illinois stating that going against these covenants is potentially not allowed, though the town's lawyer seemed to disagree with this.

Additionally, the lawyer and many residents stated homeowners already living there bought their homes under the assumption the covenants applied, and would continue to do so.

After the previous portion of this public hearing, planning commission members asked the developer, BJ Armstrong, to meet with residents to hear their concerns. While a meeting did take place, the developer made no changes to the proposal, and residents said they felt that for the developer, the meeting's sole purpose was to "check a box."

Some members of the planning commission were unhappy to hear this.

"So, you met with people and you heard their concerns, but you're not bringing us anything different than you did before," commission member Mike Matejka told the developer during the hearing.

Another member, Bob Broad, told WGLT after the meeting he was hoping to see "movement" from the developer since the last portion of the public hearing was held, but that did not happen.

Broad also wanted to see an openness and a commitment to making changes to the proposal to take into account the strongly felt concerns of the homeowners.

Ultimately, commission members did vote to put the proposal before the town council on the basis that their lawyer advised them not to take the covenant issue under consideration in their decision.

"The covenant issue will be resolved in some way at some point," said Broad, adding it was his impression that this issue could not have an impact on his vote.

The commission also elected a new chair and vice chair at the end of the meeting. R.C. McBride was elected as chair, and Brad Ropp was elected vice chair.