On Tuesday, the City Council will once again consider plans to put a new Hy-Vee grocery store in Sheridan Village. According to the Journal Star, Hy-Vee developers have made a few changes, but have still not met all of the city staff’s and zoning commission’s conditions.
Under the revised plans, Hy-Vee will include a sign on its west side, incorporate brick on portions of the building’s exterior and make the architecture of the back of the building similar to the front. Also, landscaping will block the view of a loading dock, which is also on the building’s west end. […]
Despite the improvements, seven outstanding issues exist. Some of these include questions about who pays for the installation of a sidewalk along Lake Street, restrictions on signage, limitation on community events within the parking lot and seasonal sales.
Senior Urban Planner Gene Lear says the new plans are an improvement, but from reading this article, it sounds like they’ve really only met maybe one or two of the conditions — they’ve included sidewalks around the whole store and “a proposed drive-thru pharmacy will not disrupt a sidewalk around the building.” The other changes they’ve made may be an “improvement,” but have not fulfilled the conditions.
For example, there still is no entrance or windows on the west side (back) of the building, although some of the building materials have been changed to make its appearance a little more like the front of the store. That’s a step in the right direction. But the condition isn’t just a concern about aesthetics; it’s an issue of functionality. Shoppers need access from both sides of the building because a good portion of the parking is to the back of the building. That parking loses its appeal and function if there is no access to Hy-Vee. It will basically become a dedicated parking lot for Bergners’ rear entrance and (presumably) Hy-Vee employees. That’s not a very efficient use of parking space, and one wonders how those parking spaces could even be used to meet the development’s parking requirements.
Hopefully the city council will insist that there be some sort of public access from the west side of the building. It’s in the best interests of the shopping center, the neighborhood, and the city. Perhaps another deferral would be in order if the supermarket and city planners cannot resolve the outstanding issues by next Tuesday night.
CJ- Why would we want to risk losing this development (not just HyVee but the whole Sheridan Village renovation) over whether they have a door on the west side?
Go look at the back of the old Cohens and tell me that area looks good now?
I just don’t understand why some are so concerned about that back entrance.
If this deal blows up then that center is not going to get better, it’s going to get worse. Hello Cash Stores and Dollar General.
4 – 1 odds the city blows this.
It would because people like CJ pushing for unrealistic requirements out of them.
I live in the adjoining neighborhood and I don’t see the need for the back doors.
I have to look at the blight Sheridan Village is now and want to see it improved to help keep the area stable.
The city needs to back off at this point and let them proceed.
I have never understood this argument. It’s apparently an argument for perpetuating ugliness. “It already looks bad, so we should continue to make it look bad — maybe even worse.” That kind of logic doesn’t really compute with me.
Secondly, Cohen’s is just a small part of that “leg” of Sheridan Village. Hy-Vee isn’t just replacing Cohen’s. It’s replacing Cohen’s, Radio Shack, CEFCU, Fashion Bug, Weight Watchers, etc. That whole leg doesn’t look horrible in the back. You can’t just compare it to Cohen’s.
And here is the argument that has defined Peoria for years. “But if we don’t, we’re afraid it will be worse.” Did anyone ever consider the fact that we might get something better? Does anyone remember the proposed Galleria mall? Everyone was freaked out that no development would take place if the city said no to that deal, but guess what? We got a better (and by better, I mean less costly to the city) development out of the deal called Grand Prairie.
I don’t think fear should be a motivating factor in evaluating this or any proposed development.
The fear is real. Peoria has a rap for hard to do business in and lots of red tape. This is a good example of that. HyVee can say fine we will just go somewhere else. Then what have we gained.
I disagree about the west side of Sheridan Village, it is still the back and looks like it. Yes some of those business’s have back doors but I never think of using them.
My point about Cohens is it looks bad now and HyVee building a new building that is nicely landscaped even with out a back entrance will look a lot nicer than what is there now.
Maybe HyVee should build an “inside sidewalk” that would let people enter from the rear, but then walk inside to the front of the building where the entrance could be. Just a thought.
I, for one, wouldn’t say Grand Prairie is a better development. Many people can’t stand shopping there including me and the family.
But this argument reminds me of my days living on the south side. I remember a certain south side activist who attends most every city council meeting but who objected to most every new business setting up shop in that Western and Lincoln area. I bet she would love a Hy-Vee there yesterday instead of the hookers.
@peoriafan They won’t go somewhere else because Hy-vee wants that location to take advantage of the market area. Yes, some shopper’s may come from 10-15 miles around to shop there, but the bulk of the shoppers will be within a 5-10 minute drive. They can’t pick up and just move to East Peoria IF they want to capture the market around Sheridan Village.
Don’t worry everyone, even if they don’t meet the conditions of approval, They’ll be waived and City Council will approve a mediocre development.
It’s been a while since I have posted here. After seeing the site plans it makes more sense on how it is going to fit at that location. What I still don’t understand is the doors on both sides. From my engineering point of view the parking situation in the site plans is probably the best they could ask for. I would also think that entrance doors on opposite sides of a grocery store would hinder the flow and operations in that store. I am not saying it couldn’t be done, but it would be different.
As for Hy-Vee, it is a first rate grocer! Here in the Illinois Quad Cities they have just built 3 new stores (over the past 6 years) and they are currently upgrading a former Eagles store to their standards. They have been able to compete with Wal-Mart here, where Eagles and even to a point Jewel have not been able to. All of their stores in this area do have a general likeness about their general facade and how they look. But most companies now days are like that.
C.J., do you have a better copy of the plans? Those scans are not great.
Bill — I don’t have a better copy of the plans at the moment, but I’ll see what I can do.
I like the “inside sidewalk” idea posted by Ben (above). That’s the kind of creative idea I think Hy-Vee/Sheridan Village could come up with if they tried. It would allow access from the west side parking lot, improve the look and functionality, and still not mess up their planogram for the store.
Bye-Vee. We hardly knew ye.
We don’t need a Hy Vee… although a one stop payday and title loan mall would be nice.