More About Planning

The City of Granite City is excited to plan for a thriving and vibrant future! To assist in reaching that goal, the City has initiated the process of developing a Downtown Master Plan, updating its Comprehensive Plan, modernizing its Zoning Ordinance, and designing exciting and visually pleasing entryways into the City.

This website will be continually updated throughout the planning process to provide opportunities for the community to monitor progress of the projects, participate in online engagement, plan to attend public events, and gain additional understanding of the City’s vision for the next 10-20 years.

Please join us on this journey!

  • Comprehensive planning studies a variety of aspects of a community to understand its strengths, opportunities, and collective vision for the future. Comprehensive planning can cover an entire municipality or county, or they can be more area-specific, such as the Downtown Master Plan that Granite City is in the process of developing.

    These types of plans are used by staff and elected officials to guide decision-making over the next 10-20 years, outlining the goals, priorities, and desires of the community.

  • Illinois Municipal Code (65 ILCS 5/11-12-5(1)) gives the city or village plan commission the authority to prepare and recommend a Comprehensive Plan for the present and future development or redevelopment of the incorporated area of a municipality; and can extend to land up to 1.5 miles beyond the corporate limits of the municipality, as long as that land is not incorporated by another municipality.

  • Developing city-wide or area-specific plans typically takes 8 to 12 months but may require more or less time depending on the size of the focus area and amount of detail in the plan. The planning process includes:

    • Existing Conditions Analysis

    • Public Engagement

    • Goals and Objectives

    • Future Land Use Plan

    • Implementation Tools & Strategies

  • Yes! There will be a number of way the public can contribute to the planning process, from providing direct feedback, taking surveys, and attending public engagement events. As the planning process moves forward, a series of open houses and pop-up events will be announced. Community engagement is vital to the planning process!