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Comments

  • filme 2013: We enjoy, induce I discovered precisely what I became seeking. You may have concluded my personal several...
  • Virgil Mowen: Great blog! Sorry to change the subject, but, I’m new to town and I’d like to find a great auto repair...
  • Dennis in Peoria: According to May 16th PJS, Jim Richerson is out as PRM CEO, with Debbie Ritschel named interim CEO....
  • 50+Peorian: Anyone know what Doug Oberhelman’s dog is named? I was told it is Dozer. Yep, he named the stadium...
  • Imagine: Imagine, this hotel being recently purchased. New investors & owners doing an extensive 5 million dollar...
  • J: People like MBD can cry about consolidation all they want. There’s no doubt that Peoria would have had an...
  • AnneC: And even MORE not-so-shocking news: http://cinewsnow.mlnwap.com/ar ticle.html#!/76660/3d5b84a0...
  • mbd: this isnt just happening in peoria either.
  • mbd: You do realize that this are privately owned companies right? They exist to make money. Local tv stations are...
  • concerned citizen: Joe Dulin is a liar. unfortunately, code enforcement for profit already exists. Property owners in...
  • ProudPeorian: A little “Rock Island Rocket” history for the masses. http://csanders429.wordpres...
  • ProudPeorian: Sorry for the typoes in my previous proclamation…Peoria and its surrounds (communities) are short...
  • ProudPeorian: Forget Bloomington/Normal. Remember the awesome days of the Rock Island Rocket.I know thats it’s...
  • Carmen: Merle, I wish you and Karrie and CJ would write that book! I watched it all play out on the blogs over a...
  • Emtronics: Yes that was my point Fred. Apples and Oranges Why does our Museum think it’s Chicago?

Main Street Commons, City Council continue to flout form-based codes

More residential parcels will become parking lots for the Main Street Commons development following the City Council’s 8-2 vote Tuesday night. The student apartment complex at Main Street and Bourland Avenue was granted approval to add 32 more apartment units to the existing 88 units and nearly double the number of off-street parking spaces [...]

Lack of sidewalks used as justification for no future sidewalks

Residents of Peoria got an interesting insight into Second District Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken’s thinking (and a majority of the Council, evidently) at the City Council meeting Tuesday night. An item appeared before the council in which both the Zoning Commission and staff agreed that a local land-owner, as part of an expansion project, [...]

But is it a ‘state of the art’ McDonald’s?

The Journal Star reports that McDonald’s wants to rebuild their Knoxville restaurant the same as their University location. But there’s a catch:

The McDonald’s proposal calls for 14 waivers from the city’s land development code on items such as reducing the parking lot’s setback from properties along Arcadia, increasing the size of a sign, [...]

Warehouse District an example of good economic development

In the Warehouse District, the City brought in a consultant (Farrell-Madden Associates) who met with stakeholders to develop a form-based code in keeping with the Heart of Peoria Plan. That code set specific requirements for the physical form new private development and redevelopment can take, but also loosened the restrictions on land use, allowing [...]

City staff omits key fact about HOPC’s ‘review’ of museum design

Before the City Council can give away the museum block for $1, they first have to approve the “design concepts” for the museum. On the council communication, under “neighborhood concerns,” it states, “Heart of Peoria Commission reviewed the drawings prior to Council approval on April 4, 2006.” This is misleading. First of all, the [...]

What do Peoria, Denver, and Miami have in common?

They’ve all won the 2010 Driehaus Award:

You are invited to join Mayor Jim Ardis for a news conference on April 20, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. to announce that the City of Peoria is one of three winners of the prestigious 2010 Driehaus Award for excellence in form-based coding from the Form-Based Code Institute. [...]

Main Street: Actions speak louder than words

According to the Journal Star’s “Word on the Street” column, Second District Council Member Barbara Van Auken “wants Main to be considered a priority again.” While I welcome efforts to move Main Street back onto the priority list, I have to wonder what is meant by “priority.” The same amount of money for Main [...]

Dismantling the LDC one piece at a time

The deconstruction of the Land Development Code continued at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Now the City is going to allow “separate, accessory parking lots in the West Main Street, Local Frontage category.” Because nothing says “pedestrian-friendly” and “urban” like large surface parking lots . . . or so City administrators in the Planning and [...]

LDC continues to go unenforced by Council

Tuesday night, the Peoria City Council decided twice not to enforce the Land Development Code (LDC). They made decisions that weren’t just minor variations to the LDC, but decisions that were a fundamental affront to the very intent of the LDC. In fact, they showed an ignorance of and contempt for the intent of [...]

LDC misunderstood by developers

Attorney Bob Hall thinks the Land Development Code “certainly has a lot of bugs,” according to today’s Journal Star. But it doesn’t really. It just has a lot of things he or the developer he represents either doesn’t like or doesn’t understand, which is typical regardless of what zoning regulations are in place.

Still, [...]