Category Archives: City of Peoria

City of Peoria

Old Big Hollow Dump

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Dumping garbage

Here’s one for the Journal Star’s occasional “Oink Oink” editorial feature. When the city connected Charter Oak Road to Allen Road a few years back, they rerouted a portion of Big Hollow Road to create a T-intersection with Charter Oak. But they left a portion of the old Big Hollow Road intact, complete with a little driveway to access it. Here’s a map of the location (click to enlarge):

Big Hollow Map

This lonely, abandoned roadway has become a new dumping ground in Peoria. Here’s a sample of some of the other debris you can find (click on the pictures to enlarge):

Dumping bathtubDumping mattressDumping desk drawers

That’s right: a bathtub, a mattress, and a desk that looks like it was dropped off the back of a large truck, files and all. Is this what the city had in mind for this section of roadway? Is that why they built a curb cut and access driveway for it?

If you ask me, allowing easy access to this deserted slab does nothing but provide incentive for illegal dumping. If the city isn’t going to remove this part of the old road, they should at least clean it up and block it off so that no further polluting can take place. Who knows what might get dumped there next?

Old Big Hollow Road
City of Peoria, Heart of Peoria Plan, HOPC

What does the HOP Plan say about liquor stores in South Peoria?

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The short answer is nothing. But since newly-elected-but-not-yet-seated school board member Linda Butler (who is a chaplain at South Side Mission) brought it up at Tuesday’s city council meeting, it’s worth looking into a little more.

Linda had lunch recently with my friend and Vice Chair of the Heart of Peoria Commission (HOPC) Beth Akeson. Beth recently wrote a guest editorial for the Chronicle expressing concern about the proposed grocery store and (especially) truck stop on the city’s south side. What Beth told Linda, and Linda repeated at the council meeting, is that the planned development is not consistent with the Heart of Peoria Plan.

I think we need to parse that out a little bit, because there are several facets to the development. There’s a grocery store, a liquor license, a laundromat, and a truck stop.

What the Heart of Peoria Plan advocates is the reestablishment of neighborhood centers. By looking at the street grid and later doing a visual inspection of the older part of town, the design team was able to identify where little commercial centers used to be to support the surrounding neighborhoods. Here they are (click to enlarge):

HOP Neighborhood Centers

The plan recommends:

Adjust[ing] zoning code to support and encourage development (or re-development) of neighborhood-oriented mixed-use centers, each located at the center of an appropriate pedestrian shed [an area that is within easy walking distance, generally a ¼-½ mile radius, or a 5-10 minute walk; the circles on the graphic represent the pedestrian sheds].

So the argument is that this development is not consistent with the Heart of Peoria Plan because it’s not in an ideal location for a neighborhood center.

In response, I would just say that, while the Plan does indeed advocate neighborhood centers within an appropriate pedestrian shed, none of the depicted neighborhood center locations (see graphic above) cover the area where Mr. Abud is wanting to locate his grocery store. The closest ones are Adams & Western and Laramie & Krause (numbers 3 & 6 respectively on the graphic). However, neither of these cover Harrison Homes or the neighborhood that Abud would be serving.

Furthermore, considering that several of the depicted “appropriate” pedestrian sheds (Adams & Western, Adams & Garden, Water & Main, Jefferson & Camblin, Adams & Sloan — numbers 3, 9, 1, 18, and 19 on the graphic, respectively) are on the edge of neighborhoods so that nearly half of the shed is unused or otherwise non-residential, I don’t think a case can be made that having a neighborhood center at Adams & Ligonier is somehow inconsistent because it isn’t in the middle of a neighborhood.

Also, in a supplementary part of the Plan, it explicitly recommends that a public-private partnership establish community anchors in these neighborhood centers that would include a laundromat and “a neighboring cafe or bar” (emphasis added). When Duany was here explaining the Plan, he said himself that we shouldn’t be “moralistic” and should recognize that adults do drink and that a neighborhood bar is an appropriate place for adults to socialize. While the Plan is silent on whether a grocery store should sell liquor, the implication from the proposed community anchor is that liquor is not a concern of the Plan.

The truck-stop part of the plan is a different issue, however. I think a strong case can be made that the Plan does not conceive of a truck stop along this corridor, especially not abutting a residential neighborhood. Although there is nothing explicit about this topic, certainly the Plan is concerned with things being at a pedestrian scale and meeting the needs of people (not cars), lowering dependence on the automobile, having inspiring form/architecture, etc., and a truck stop is the antithesis of all those things and would be totally inappropriate for this location.

I think it would be a fair statement to say that the truck stop is not consistent with the Heart of Peoria Plan. But I think the laundromat and grocery store intrinsically are consistent with the Plan, even with the grocery store having a liquor license and being located at Adams & Ligonier.

Something I haven’t talked about is the form of the development. In a part of the HOP Plan that discusses interventions for the Southern Gateway Area, it states in part:

Both the buildings and the parking in the existing [Southern Gateway] plan are consistently suburban in character, where they should reflect an increasingly urban character as one approaches the downtown core. Although this approach might make it easier to attract certain kinds of development in the short run, it will ultimately limit development capabilities of the surrounding landowners, as well as giving an inappropriate character to the city’s “gateway.” The current pattern of land use along the corridor reflects the common result of the erosion of an older urban fabric by the introduction of uses that are oriented to the automobile traffic generated along this route. The result is not only visually unappealing, but detrimental to the redevelopment potential of the nearby neighborhood.

The old Miracle Mart building, which Abud is remodeling, is essentially suburban in character, with the building set back quite a ways on the property and all the parking in a front lot. One could make the case that Abud’s development should look more urban in order to better conform to the HOP Plan. However, since the building already exists and was a Miracle Mart and reportedly a Sav-A-Lot already, I don’t see how we could require someone (under our current zoning regulations) to raze the current structure and rebuild it, especially since it appears to be perfectly suited to being a neighborhood grocery as it is currently configured.

What this part of town really needs is a Form District, just like they have at Sheridan/Loucks, Prospect, West Main, and the Warehouse District. A form-based code for the Southern Gateway would give Peoria the regulatory authority to make sure development is consistent with the city’s vision for that area. Furthermore, the process of developing a form-based code requires that charrettes be held with the neighborhoods along that corridor, so they would be fully represented. I would encourage First District Councilman Clyde Gulley to work toward that goal by making sure he secures funds for this project in the next budget cycle.

This issue is now on the Heart of Peoria Commission’s agenda for a special meeting that will be held this Friday, May 11, 8:00 – 10:30 a.m. in Room 404 at Peoria City Hall. As with all HOPC meetings, this is open to the public if anyone would like to attend.

City Council, City of Peoria, Crime, Peoria Police

The Chief’s words are so true

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ChiefThe most interesting part of Monday’s Word on the Street column was Police Chief Settingsgaard’s e-mail to Molly Parker (no offense to J.D.). It’s the second half of the column and it lays out the Chief’s feelings about why it’s so hard to keep crime under control. It’s pretty clear that the police feel like their work is being undermined by a justice system that is just trying to keep up appearances to the public:

Prisons are overcrowded. We have to let criminals out and reduce the number coming in. Let’s not build more prisons, that would be expensive. Let’s not give shorter sentences to criminals, that could anger the public. Let’s give them sentences that are just as long but we will let them out sooner. Maybe the public will never get wise to this.

…We puzzle over why we seem to be arresting so many violent suspects yet violent crime keeps occurring.

That was never more soberly brought home than when Councilman Bob Manning was attacked by Michael Little. The situation is a little different than what the Chief was describing, but it’s the same principle. According to today’s paper, “Little has another felony case pending, an aggravated unlawful use of weapons charge stemming from a May 2006 incident at Fantasyland.” Little had shot off a firearm in the parking lot and was arrested, but of course, posted bail and has been living free for about a year now waiting for his trial.

Thanks to a court system that lets justice roll like molasses, Little was free to commit another violent crime before he was even tried for the first felony. He punched Bob Manning in the face — the thanks Manning got for stopping to help a little girl who ran into his car on her bike — then fled the scene. You would think that with now two felony indictments that Little would be behind bars, but rumor has it he posted $200 bail and is out on the streets yet again.

I’m sure Peoria police officers just love re-arresting the same criminals again and again. There is a problem with our criminal justice system. But the question is, what do we do about it?

City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools, The Peoria Chronicle

Be back soon!

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Hi all. I’m still on vacation, but will be back soon. Just a few odds & ends I wanted to mention:

  • I did a little catching up tonight and looked at the recent comments on Beth’s guest editorial. That’s a really interesting discussion. I also checked my Akismet spam filter and found a couple of comments that were erroneously caught. So check out the comments again to make sure you didn’t miss any.
  • If you’re wanting to comment on something else in the news, you can use this as an open thread.
  • I checked with Terry Beachler about his court date on May 1; he said no charges were filed, but the statute of limitations isn’t up for a year, so I guess he could still be charged if the Peoria PD has a change of heart. I wouldn’t want that hanging over my head for a year
  • From the Journal Star: “‘I think overall we [the District 150 school board] feel that if you look at the status of the district today compared to two years ago that there have really been significant improvements,’ board president David Gorenz said today.” He was referring to the likelihood that Superintendent Hinton’s contract will be renewed for two more years at Monday’s school board meeting. What exactly has improved under his leadership? Better test scores? Fiscal improvement? Intergovernmental cooperation? I’m drawing a blank here.
  • Speaking of District 150, they’re selling property, but not the properties on Prospect that they no longer need. Rather, they are selling some land down by the river — one lot is being sold to ADM for $650,000. They’re selling another lot to A. Lucas & Sons for $200,000. And then there are two lots they’re selling to Tri-City Machine for $40,000 each. And they’ll be selling the Meyer building at auction, if that item passes Monday night. Not including the Meyer building, that’s $930,000 the school board will be raking in. Is this the same school district that says they can’t afford to keep their truancy center open?

That’s enough for tonight. Talk to you more later when I get back in town. By the way, are you all enjoying the Duany presentation I’ve been putting up on the site?

City of Peoria

Guest Editorial: Is Peoria desperate for development?

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[Beth Akeson is Vice Chairman of the Heart of Peoria Commission, a former candidate for District 150 School Board, and a friend of mine. She wanted to comment on my recent post about the proposed South Peoria grocery store, and I felt it would actually work better as a Guest Editorial. More people will see it and can comment on it directly this way. –C. J.]

There is more to the visit and if CJ doesn’t mind I would like to add the following…

CJ and I met yesterday for lunch to talk about the Heart of Peoria Commission. In conversation the grocery store topic surfaced and I said Councilman Gulley suggested I visit and talk with Mr. Abud and I suggested maybe we should do it together… CJ agreed and on we went.

During our visit, Mr. Abud told us in addition to the grocery store he had plans for a full scale truck stop (phase three), a Laundromat (phase two) and he told us the grocery store (phase one) was dependent on securing a liquor license. He warned us that if he does not get a liquor license for the grocery store he would be forced to stop his work on the grocery store and move the business to Ohio. He claims it would not make financial sense to continue. Mr. Abud indicated he was currently in negotiations with the city to secure incentives for the truck-stop phase of the project and that he spoke with City Manager Randy Oliver and Economic Development Director Craig Hullinger that morning, at the site, regarding the truck-stop.

I asked Mr. Abud if he could rank the importance of each component of this project and he said the most valuable would be the liquor business followed by diesel gas sales and the grocery business would be last. He mentioned a Laundromat in passing, but CJ and I did not ask for Laundromat details.

Mr. Abud presented some good arguments for why he should be allowed to sell liquor. Many of these arguments CJ has articulated on his blog. Mr. Abud also mentioned a couple of places that currently sell liquor, one that sells beer at very high prices and the other that according to Mr. Abud sells liquor without the required license using a pass code system (what ever that means).

My view, of course, is that the Heart of Peoria Plan should be the guidepost as projects are proposed. Amenities for families living in the Heart of Peoria Plan area should be accessible without needing to own or have access to an automobile. The walk to the grocery store should be nice; in fact, it should be inspiring. All citizens should be able to walk out their front door and feel the world is a wonderful and safe place. Our city’s built environment should convey to each and every one of us, “You matter and we care about you!” That feeling should be felt everywhere in Peoria and yet, I am sad to say, that is not the case.

CJ and I spent more time speaking to Mr. Abud than we planned and I left with conflicted feelings about this deal. I know this area is desperate for a grocery store, but I believe Peoria’s number one problem is that we always appear desperate. We were desperate for riverfront development, desperate for Campus town, desperate for Cub Foods, desperate for…you name it. Could it be that Peoria’s desperation prevents successful long term real population growth and prevents truly quality projects from being developed in the older sections of our city?

As time goes on we have witnessed solid quality businesses moving north and the buildings they once occupied are now housing predatory (my opinion) operations which do nothing to enhance the neighborhood’s quality of life or we see the buildings sit vacant adding to the sense of despair. A truck-stop in this part of town will reinforce the current blighted conditions. Would any of us choose to live next to a truck stop? And if we wouldn’t want that for ourselves why would we knowingly allow this to be developed near Harrison Homes? I asked Mr. Abud if he would want to live near a truck stop and he said no.

Development for development’s sake is not a good idea. My favorite quote is from Winston Churchill who said, “We shape our cities and then they shape us.” Enough said.

City of Peoria, Comprehensive Plan

Comprehensive planning kick-off is tonight

From an e-mail reminder I received:

The first in a series of Comprehensive Plan Workshops will be held this Thursday, May 3 starting at 5:30 p.m.

The Workshop will be held in the Twin Towers building, 456 Fulton St., suite 420.

The topic for this Workshop is Housing & Neighborhoods.

I hope there’s a lot of participation and that all parts of Peoria are represented. What comes out of these meetings will affect you if you live in Peoria, so I would encourage everyone to make it out to the meeting tonight so your voice can be heard.

City of Peoria

South Peoria grocery is not a ruse for another liquor store

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Grocery Store Produce

This is a picture of the produce section of the La Princesa Market in Watsonville, California. It’s owned by Ahmad Abud, and is the same kind of supermarket he wants to open on the south side of Peoria.

I got meet Mr. Abud today over my lunch break and take a tour of the old Miracle Mart that he is in the process of renovating. He plans to offer good-quality, fresh produce like you would find at Kroger or Cub Foods. He’s also planning to have a full-time butcher on staff. There will be a lunch counter where one can get fresh, hot foods, coffee, juice from concentrate, etc. There will be standard grocery items (brand names and generic) — dairy items, canned goods, etc. As a special niche, he plans to offer a full line of Hispanic food items.

And yes, in one corner, taking up approximately 1,800 square feet, he will sell packaged liquor, if his liquor license is approved. On that point, Abud expressed many times how surprised he has been that this is such a point of contention. He points out that every grocery store sells liquor, and the reason is because there’s not enough margin on grocery items alone — especially in this poorer neighborhood where he’s locating, where prices will need to be low and affordable.

He had some other things to say about the liquor controversy, too. His cashiers will be required to scan the bar code on the back of the purchaser’s drivers license or ID card in order to sell liquor in order to keep it from being sold to those underage. He also points out that adults on the south side who want liquor are going to buy liquor whether they buy it at his place or somewhere else, so denying him a liquor license doesn’t really solve anything in that regard. All it would do is keep the residents from getting a grocery store, which they sorely need.

He’s using local labor to remodel the store, which is good for the economy. One disadvantage of the site is that Adams street has an unbroken median in front of the store that prevents those traveling north from turning left into his parking lot. He said the city had indicated a willingness to work with him on that, perhaps picking up 50% of the cost of redoing the median if Abud will pick up the other 50%.

Finally, Abud said he was willing to put in writing as a condition of his liquor license that the liquor section will never be more than 12% of the total square footage of the store. That means that if he ever wants to change that percentage, he’ll have to come back before the liquor commission.

I understand the concerns about opening just another liquor store on the south side, but this isn’t a liquor store. It’s a grocery store. And grocery stores today sell liquor. If we’re going to wait until a liquor-free grocery moves into the south side they will never get a grocery store. This project should be approved and the liquor license granted, subject to the square-footage restriction.

Update: I should have mentioned that this property is in the proposed Eagle View TIF district, and Abud is counting on that incentive as a requirement for opening his store. I think one would be hard-pressed to argue against the need for a TIF in this area.

City of Peoria, Southtown

What’s the vision for South Peoria?

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Lately I’ve been driving around South Peoria. I’ve been checking out the housing stock, the parks, the library, the business facades. It’s common knowledge that this is an economically-depressed area, but if you haven’t driven around there, you really need to see it. To say there needs to be more investment on the south side would be the understatement of the decade.

Yet there’s a lot of potential on which to build. In nearly every neighborhood, there’s the remnants of a commercial center where a grocery store or laundromat used to be and could be again. There are a number of parks, most notably Trewyn Park, which are well-maintained by the Park District. The Lincoln Branch of the Peoria Public Library, while small, is very nice with beautiful architecture and a park setting. There are numerous schools and churches.

All other areas of town have big, exciting projects: New construction/annexation in the north, form districts and medical expansions in the center of town and downtown areas. South Peoria, unfortunately, is not known for a lot of new or exciting investment. Now that new investment is proposed, there’s a controversy brewing about it.

There’s a plan to open a grocery store on Adams across from Harrison Homes in the old Miracle Mart building. Businessman Ahmad Abud is requesting a liquor license so he can sell packaged liquor at the new store. He’s gotten the blessing of the Public Housing Authority as well as first-district councilman Clyde Gulley.

But others won’t hear of it. They think the “grocery store” is just a ruse to get a new liquor store on the south side, and that a liquor store will only invite more crime. Abud, according to a recent Journal Star article, “said his store floor plan sets aside only 12 percent of space for alcohol but says he needs those sales to stay in business.” The store would be 15,000 square feet in size, so 12 percent means alcohol would take up 1,800 square feet.

Incidentally, the Journal Star also said Abud was the owner of Pulaski Corp. and “has stores in Chicago, Ohio and California. He just recently moved from Chicago to Bartonville to concentrate on this business development.” However, I searched the secretary of state websites of Illinois, California, and Ohio and could not find an active “Pulaski Corp.” in any of those states’ corporation/LLC databases. I also did a search of the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago phone book and could find no reference to “Pulaski Corp.” I find it a little strange that I can’t find any reference to either Abud or his company anywhere.

But I digress. The question I have is, what is the vision for South Peoria?

First, there was “urban redevelopment,” which gave us Southtown. That’s where the city bought up a huge swath of land, tore down all the houses, then redeveloped it to look more suburban. I don’t believe anyone would consider Southtown a garden spot of the city now. Besides, even if it could be argued that redevelopment works, it’s too expensive for the city to completely rebuild the south side.

Then there was the Heart of Peoria Plan, which was recently codified in legal language known as the Land Development Code. The part of the code that would apply to South Peoria has been tabled indefinitely because there were some minor concerns with parts of it. City staff is now heavily involved in the comprehensive planning effort, so they can’t devote any time to fixing the flaws, which means it will sit on the table for a long time, and could be forgotten completely. I hope not, but it’s not the same as simply deferring it to a future date when you know for sure it will come back for further action; tabling, by definition, is indefinite.

Now there’s the grocery store, which we don’t like because they sell liquor (like every other grocery store does, by the way). Okay, fine. We’ll deny his liquor license and he won’t open a store. Congratulations. Now what? Now they still don’t have a grocery store.

How long will things be denied with no alternative? Is it okay to just let it continue its downward spiral while we focus on annexation and new development to the north? The residents on the south side are our neighbors. They’re not “those people.” They’re Peorians. They deserve better.

City Council, City of Peoria

States Attorney: No conflict for Spain

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States Attorney Kevin Lyons“States Attorney has opined,” city attorney Randy Ray wrote to me today. He was referring to the opinion on whether recently-elected city councilman Ryan Spain could serve or whether he would be violating the Public Official Prohibited Activities Act. The States Attorney says no, Spain would not be in violation of state law by serving on the council.

Here’s the opinion from States Attorney Kevin Lyons. Or, you can read it below by clicking the “Read the rest of this entry” link. I’ll have a wrap up of the opinion later. I don’t have time to write a summary now.

Continue reading States Attorney: No conflict for Spain →