If you watched or attended the City Council meeting tonight, you may have heard a representative of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria give a presentation on their plans to build a new pastoral center downtown. In her presentation, she claimed that the plans were approved by the Heart of Peoria Commission.
That’s actually not true. The plans were shown to the Heart of Peoria Commission (HOP/C), and revised plans were shown to a few members of the HOP/C, but at no point did the commission take an official vote to approve or disapprove of the plans. I, as a recent appointee to the HOP/C, have never seen their plans at all, so I have no idea whether they conform with the Heart of Peoria Plan or with the proposed Land Development Code.
You may think I’m making a big deal out of nothing, and I won’t argue that, but it’s a pet peeve of mine to have the HOP/C’s name taken in vain — a pet peeve that started before I was even on the commission. This isn’t the first time it’s happened. The HOP/C’s “blessing” was invoked for Museum Square as well, even though the commission never approved that project either. The Heart of Peoria Plan has been used to justify all kinds of projects, from Museum Square to District 150’s park-siting plans, even though those projects are antithetical to the Plan.
The HOP/C has no regulatory authority, but since the City Council adopted the HOP Plan “in principle,” getting the HOP/C’s input on big projects downtown and making token changes is undertaken as an inconvenient, but politically-correct thing to do. Once they make minor tweaks based on HOP/C recommendations, they check the commission off their list and claim to have its full support.
The HOP/C is going to have to be taken more seriously if the City Council ever expects the Heart of Peoria Plan to be adopted in earnest, not just in principle.
“An important part of maintaining the traditional neighborhoods of Peoria has to do with recognizing, preserving, and, when necessary, reinforcing their historic character.”