Category Archives: City of Peoria

City Council, City of Peoria

City zoning commission okays grandfather status for unpaved lots

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The city council on Tuesday will also be considering a recommendation from the zoning commission that provides some relief to businesses in the older areas of town that have unpaved (rock or gravel) parking lots or loading areas.  Right now, if someone complains about such lots, the city can require that the business pave their lot within a year of receiving notice.  Under new rules proposed by the zoning commission, they would not have to pave their lot or loading area unless there is a change of use or expansion of the business.

The new rules apply only to businesses whose gravel lots were created prior to 1972.  The city established rules requiring lots to be paved that year, so any business that established a gravel lot after 1972 did so illegally and would still be subject to the old rules (requiring pavement within a year).

This is a good example of the city showing some flexibility in their zoning to take into consideration the concerns of long-time businesses in the older parts of town.  This sounds like a good compromise by the zoning commission.

City Council, City of Peoria, Traffic

Knoxville and Prospect intersection to be upgraded

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Just in case you feel like there’s not enough road construction in your life, IDOT and the city are planning to upgrade the intersection of Knoxville and Prospect roads in Peoria, according to the city council agenda for Tuesday night.  It looks to be rather extensive — they want to change the intersection so that people turning north onto Knoxville from Prospect can have better visibility of traffic coming from the south.  New (“modernized”) traffic signals will be installed, of course.

City Council, City of Peoria, East Bluff, Peoria Public Schools

File this under “I” for “Irony”

On Monday, May 1, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., there will be a special meeting of the Peoria Public School Board at Woodruff High School to get input from the public regarding the district’s plans to abandon — and possibly raze to make way for public housing — the current Glen Oak School building, erected in 1889.

May 1 also kicks off “Historic Preservation Month.” A typical proclamation for this month reads as follows:

WHEREAS, historic preservation is an effective tool for managing growth, revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering local pride and maintaining community character while enhancing livability; and

WHEREAS, historic preservation is relevant for communities across the nation, both urban and rural, and for Americans of all ages, all walks of life and all ethnic backgrounds; and

WHEREAS, it is important to celebrate the role of history in our lives and the contributions made by dedicated individuals in helping to preserve the tangible aspects of the heritage that has shaped us as a people; and

NOW, THEREFORE, I, (governor of your state, mayor of your city), do proclaim May 2006, as National Preservation Month, and call upon the people of (your state or city) to join their fellow citizens across the United States in recognizing and participating in this special observance.

I’m not sure what the wording will be for Peoria, but a proclamation for Historic Preservation Month is planned for the Peoria City Council meeting Tuesday night.

City of Peoria, Kellar Branch

Surface Transportation Board rules in Carver Lumber’s favor

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The Surface Transportation Board (STB) ruled today that the city can’t tear up the Kellar Branch for at least another 90 days so Carver Lumber has time to evaluate the service they receive from Central Illinois Railway (CIRY) over the spur connecting to the Union Pacific (UP) line to the west. This is exactly what Carver Lumber requested — time to evaluate whether this service would be adequate before the Kellar Branch is irreversibly turned into a hiking/biking trail. I’m sure it was sweet vindication for Carver to read the STB’s statement: “Carver Lumber’s request for time to evaluate the service options that the shipper may now have is reasonable in the circumstances presented here.”

During the 90 days between now and July 24, CIRY has to prove its service over the western spur will be adequate and comparable to service Carver used to receive from Pioneer Industrial Rail (PIRY) over the Kellar Branch, and both CIRY and Carver have to report their findings to the STB so it can make a final ruling. Also, PIRY will have an extra 20 days (until August 14) to respond to CIRY and Carver’s filings.

Expect an editorial sometime in the next week to decry the loss of grant money for the Kellar Branch rail-to-trail conversion. Boo hoo hoo.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Police

Ordinance against loud motorcycles should be enforced

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I disagree with Bill Dennis on whether the noise ordinance should pass the council tonight (I think it should pass), but I agree with one thing he said: “an overly loud motorcycle wakes people up in the middle of the night just like a ‘boom-car’ does.”

When Police Chief Settingsgaard spoke at the Uplands Residential Association meeting, several people brought up the fact that loud motorcycles were much more of a nuisance in our neighborhood than boom cars. In fact, we meet in a basement in the center of a church with thick walls, and during the meeting we could clearly hear a loud motorcycle go by, but at no point did we hear any boom cars.

What the chief told us was that (1) there’s already an ordinance against loud pipes on motorcycles, but that (2) it is not enforced. Why isn’t it enforced? The police have not received any complaints about it. Councilwoman Van Auken, who was also at the meeting, said she’s never received a complaint from a constituent on loud motorcycles either.

The chief likened this issue to the jaywalking situation in town not long ago. Jaywalking laws are not usually enforced either, and no one generally complains about it. When someone did complain and the police enforced jaywalking laws one day, Peorians got all in a tizzy about it. So now you’ll have to forgive him for being a bit gun-shy about enforcing the loud motorcycle ordinance.

However, if you really want to see that ordinance enforced, call the police and complain. Loudly. If the police know that this is an issue that bothers Peorians (not just one, but many), they will respond. Their number is 673-4521.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, Peoria Journal Star, Peoria Public Schools

And another thing about yesterday’s editorial . . .

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The Journal Star still hasn’t put yesterday’s editorial on their website where everyone can read it. I don’t blame them. It was so bad I’d want to just forget the whole thing, too, if I were they.

Still, I subscribe to the paper, so I have a copy of it, and I just remembered another ridiculous statement of theirs I failed to mention in my earlier post:

Now State Sen. George Shadid says he’ll ask the governor not to sign legislation he sponsored to help District 150 pay for new schools. [ . . . ] Shadid must surely recognize it’s not the School Board or superintendent he’s attempting to punish, but Peoria’s children. His bill and this issue go way beyond just this one school.

The bill to which they are referring is SB 2477 which lets the Public Building Commission issue bonds for school construction — in Peoria only, and only through the year 2011. So when the editorial board says this bill goes “way beyond just this one school,” remember that it only applies to Peoria’s school district, which is currently planning to build a total of six schools within the next five years. “Way beyond” seems a bit hyperbolic, don’t you think?

But on to their main point. What would happen if the governor didn’t sign this bill? Would it punish Peoria’s children, as the Journal Star contends?

In a word, no. For one thing, their statement assumes a new building is so desperately needed that the denial of it is considered punishment. That contention hasn’t been proven.

But besides that, the school district could still issue bonds for school construction without this bill — they’d just have to get the voters’ okay via a referendum. Isn’t that awful? Imagine! Having to (gasp!) communicate to the public and (*wheeze*) persuade the public to invest in such a plan. Horrors! Funny, I sense a trend here . . . .

I get the impression that the Journal Star editorial board has joined the school and park boards in believing the public is too stupid or too bothersome and must be avoided at all costs. It’s a shame they think so little of us, considering we’re the ones who will be paying off this construction through our property taxes.

Sen. Shadid is doing the right thing by not letting the school board continue to leave the public in the dark. Why a newspaper would advocate a governmental body keeping the public in the dark is beyond me — it seems to fly in the face of their mission.

But what do I know? I’m just one of the 113,000 stupid taxpayers in Peoria.

Arbor District, Bradley University, City of Peoria

Another neighborhood rumored to be giving in

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I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of this, but I’ve heard the Arbor District Neighborhood Association is considering dissolution. No decision has been made yet. The proposal is, once the neighborhood association is dissolved, the bulk of the neighborhood would join the Moss-Bradley neighborhood association, with a small portion joining the Uplands Residential Association.

I can only guess that the reasoning behind this is the theory that there is strength in numbers, and that perhaps being part of a larger association will allow them to pull more weight. But I can tell you what message it would send to Bradley University: “We give up.”

Let me ask you this: which sounds greedier, to ask for a whole pie or a piece of pie? Right now the Arbor District is a whole pie, and Bradley is just asking for a piece of it (Maplewood to the alley). If it joins Moss-Bradley, then the whole Arbor District becomes just a piece of the Moss-Bradley pie. It will make it easier for the university to take over more and more of the Arbor District. They’re guaranteed to lose ground, literally.

I hope the neighbors in the Arbor District realize this is plan of sure defeat, and decide not to do it.

City Council, City of Peoria, Heart of Peoria Plan

Council Roundup: Prospect Road to get face lift à la Sheridan/Loucks triangle

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Just like the façade improvement program approved last month for Sheridan Road, Prospect Road south of War Memorial is getting some city help to improve its look as well.

I do a fair amount of criticism of the city on this blog, but I have to applaud the façade improvement program. This program is brilliantly-conceived and well-executed. It helps older neighborhoods, it implements the Heart of Peoria Plan, and it shows some commitment from the city to long-time established businesses.

Kudos to the city for a job well-done!

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria County

Council Roundup: Ady report dispels some myths about Peoria’s attractiveness to business

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As stated in the council’s request for action, “In 2005, the City Council and County of Peoria approved a sole source contract with Ady International Company (AIC) to evaluate locational characteristics of the City and County as a preferred location for business attraction.”  In other words, when companies are looking for a city in which to locate, how does Peoria stack up?

Mr. Ady gave a presentation to the council on his findings. Interestingly, there were a couple of popular beliefs that were dispelled :

  • First of all, we don’t need a Peoria-Chicago highway to attract more business.  Businesses want a city that is close to an interestate — multiple interstates don’t add or detract from a city’s attractiveness.
  • Secondly, the public school system was not a detractor.  To be fair, the school system wasn’t a plus for making the community attractive to business either, but it was neutral.

One other thing is worth mentioning: “Community appearance” is one of the city’s weaknesses.  I really expected that to be one of our strengths.  Even with all the public and private projects the city has been doing to beautify Peoria, apparently outsiders are getting a bad first impression of  our fair city.  This should give us all pause.  Why are visitors getting this impression?  What specific things can we or should we do to change our appearance?

City Council, City of Peoria, Illinois American Water

Council Roundup: Garbage tax will be collected monthly

But we won’t know for a couple of days whether monthly collection will start in May or September.  There’s some question whether Illinois American can change their billing process quickly enough to start collecting monthly in May.

The switch to a monthly fee was opposed by council members Sandberg, Van Auken, and Grayeb.  Grayeb has a deep-seated hatred for Illinois American Water Company, and he feels the company is profiting from collecting this fee for the city.  That’s why he voted against it.  Sandberg and Van Auken voted against it because it doesn’t address the root problem — as Sandberg put it, it’s “putting sugar on” a poor funding decision by the previous council; it hides a bogus tax.