Everyone was surprised by the low attendance at the public hearing for the new Land Development Code (LDC) for the Heart of Peoria area. The public hearing portion of section 6 — which covers the form-based portion of the code — has closed now, although some deliberation by the Zoning and Planning Committees will continue at the Dec. 6 meeting. There are four form districts: Renaissance Park (West Main Corridor), Sheridan-Loucks Triangle, Prospect Road Corridor, and the Warehouse District.

While the hearing was sparsely-attended, there were a few concerns raised. Two property owners expressed concern about the boundaries of the West Main Corridor, one of whom said that the boundary bisects a single parcel of land in some places. Planning and Growth Director Pat Landes explained that any bisected parcels are errors in the map drawing and would be corrected as they are identified. However, anyone wanting to add parcels to the form district would need to do so after the LDC is adopted under the provisions in the code.

I suggested for the record that parking requirements be amended to require bicycle racks — nothing fancy, just somewhere to lock up one’s bike. I also suggested that the transect illustrations be modified to show examples of streets with bike lanes and city bus pull-off lanes as suggested by frequent commenter Mahkno. However, the commissions approved those sections without any changes; they might have had a better chance of being modified if more people had attended and spoken in favor of such provisions.

The Warehouse District Association distributed their request in writing. They requested the LDC require “minimum square footages of dwelling units be established.” The association argues that without this safeguard, “developers can produce a dwelling that encourages transient behavior by simply not providing enough space to live adequately.” They also point out that minimum square footages are required elsewhere in the code outside the form districts. The association also requested that residential group living be subject to special use review; the code as currently written permits residential group living as a standard use.

The next public hearing meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. At that meeting, the committees will hear testimony regarding the remaining sections of the LDC. Those sections cover the remainder of the Heart of Peoria area.