By WMBD-TV

BLOOMINGTON – As supply continues to not meet up with demand in terms of housing, Bloomington City Council held a panel discussion on the topic at Monday’s meeting.

Companies such as Ferrero and Rivian continue to expand, which Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council CEO Patrick Hoban said is causing a strain on housing in the area.

“In the beginning, Rivian had about 850-1,000 employees and now they’re hovering at around 8,500,” he said.

Hoban was joined by McLean County Regional Planning Commission (RPC) Community Planner Mark Adams, RPC President Ray Lai, and Mid Illinois Realtors Association President Meenu Bashkar on the panel.

Panelists emphasized that housing is a national issue, not unique to Bloomington-Normal. However, they identified a need for potential solutions.

Some solutions included property tax incentives and sitting down with developers to find solutions.

Hoban said an added issue is that banks simply aren’t lending to cities like Bloomington.

He said that as more and more people come to the area, the city needs to rethink their zoning and ordinance regulations.

“We’re primarily known for student housing and single-family housing. Right now, a lot of people coming to the area are single on their own and might not need a single-family home but more of a rental,” he said.

Another thing that was discussed was how there needs to be more coordination between different people involved in the housing discussion.

Bloomington City Manager Jeff Jurgens said he would like a plan of action by the end of June. Refurbishing older housing units was seen as a preferable option to building new homes.