Peoria approves mixed-use rezoning at Perry Avenue, authorizes Harrison School demolition

good evening everyone it is six o'clock P.M on Tuesday January the 10th 2023 happy New Year everyone I'd like to welcome everyone in our Council audience as well as our listening audience at wcbu I'd also like to welcome the audience watching on cable channel 22.

this is to call the meeting of the Peoria city council to order foreign clerk the council mics are open please call the roll that again mayor Ali councilmember Alan council member seer council member Grant here council member Jackson here council member Jensen council member Kelly here Amber Euler here council member rickenback council member Rick Regal and council member Val Pula pleasant we have a quorum present Madame mayor great thank you please join me everyone and stand for a moment of Silent prayer or silent reflection followed by the Pledge of Allegiance of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all we are at the minutes [Applause] thank you madam chairwoman I move to approve the minutes of The Joint City Council and town board meeting held on December 13 2022 as printed seconded by council member Allen cash your ballots dude thank you Madam Clerk we are at the public hearings 23-001 is a public hearing regarding the annexation of 9601 North Allen Road Peoria Illinois may I have a motion to open the public hearing move by council member Sears seconded by council member Kelly please cash your ballots hold on just a moment please cast your ballots foreign motion passes unanimously is there anyone here that would like to speak to the public hearing 22-001 the public hearing regarding the annexation of 9601 North Allen Road in Peoria sir please state your name my name is Ron hollohan and I'm a board member of the Dunlap Library board and its treasurer in the past two years the city of Peoria has the next properties within the district or within the Dunlap Library District five times of course with each annexation the revenue the tax revenue that would have gone to the Dunlap Library board no longer goes there as a consequence we've had to operate this year out of Reserve funds or supplementing a regular budget with Reserve funds and I don't think it takes a profit to be to predict the fate of the Dunlap Library if this continues for the regularity that it has occurred then you can imagine my dismay when I learned last Thursday for the first time um that there was a consideration of establishing a Tiff District that would further decrease our revenues and put a further Financial strain uh upon our district by the way I learned about this Thursday for the first time whenever the city was going to a next property Mr Houlihan I don't want to interrupt you but I want to make sure that you're speaking to the uh public hearing the right public hearing we have two public hearings today the first one is on an annexation of 9601 North Allen Road and the next one pertains to the Tiff District do I I feel like that person from Saturday Night Live who always said I got it I'll be back I'm sorry that's all right thank you is there anyone who wants to speak to the public hearing 23-001 the public hearing regarding the annexation of 9601 North Allen Road in Peoria and for the third time is there anyone who wants to speak to public hearing 23-001 the public hearing regarding the annexation of 9601 North Allen Road in Peoria then I would ask for a motion to close the public hearing moved by council member valpulla seconded by council member Kelly please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk 23-002 is a public hearing regarding the proposed Medina Plains Allen Road Business Park Tax increment financing districts this public hearing regarding the proposed Medina Plains Dash Allen Road Business Park Tax increment financing District or Tiff is being held pursuant to chapter 65 of the Illinois compiled statutes section 5 11-74.4-5 and public notice before we hear from those who wish to speak the city will adjourn the hearing at the conclusion of comments tonight and reconvene the hearing at six o'clock P.M on Tuesday January the 24th 2023 in City Hall Chambers 419 Fulton Street in Peoria the city will also provide written notice to the appropriate parties that a revised legal description of the Redevelopment area and Parcels to be included within the Redevelopment area annexations of properties that are not yet complete requires this change to the Redevelopment area and the Redevelopment plan I would ask for a motion to open this public hearing moved by council member valpulla seconded by council member seer please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously if there are any individuals that wish to provide comment please approach the podium state your name for the record and provide your comments welcome back Mr Houlihan thank you for having me again my name's Ron Hall again and I'm here on behalf of the Dunlap library of District our library board only meets once a month except in December so we did not have a meeting and why not and we would not have had an opportunity to discuss this proposal so I'm here as an individual until the board the Dunlap School the Dunlap Library board has an attempt as an opportunity to discuss this situation and come to its own recommendations they will meet as you will meet the 24th of January so this is really the first time that we've had an opportunity to uh react to this proposal and again the proposal would further reduce our tax revenues and therefore provide a hardship to the district now why uh a couple of days ago our director received another communication from the city of Peoria that said that four apostles that are in our district would be accepted they would be excluded from the stiff District I would like to find out whether that is true whether they will be excluded and secondly whether there will be any well there were any other remaining Apostles that are in the library district that are included in in the Tiff District I need this information so that when we discuss it as a board the board will be able to give do consideration to this proposal so at some point maybe at a later date I would like to know is there any uh any uh there any other Apostles that are included in the amended proposal and secondly what the plans of the city if they have any for further annexation of the Dunlap Library District thank you madam you're welcome we'll make sure that you get that information is there anyone else that would like to speak to public hearing 22-00 to the public hearing regarding the proposed Medina Plains Allen Road Business Park Tax increment financing TIF district and finally is there anyone else that would like to provide comment regarding 22-002 the public hearing regarding the proposed Medina Plains Allen Road Business Park Tiff District my name is Bob Hall I'm an attorney with Miller Hall intrigues in Peoria Madam mayor just for clarification no the hearing is being adjourned and to be continued on the 24th is that correct yes sir as there appears to be no further comment I would like to entertain a motion um that this hearing be reconvened at six o'clock P.M on January 24th 2023 in these Chambers moved by council member Sierra seconded by council member Rick Regal any comments discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously thank you madam Clerk we have one town item 23-003 is a week request from the town officials to approve the December 2022 actual expenditures and to approve the January 2023 anticipated expenditures for the town of the city of Peoria move to approve as outlined seconded by council member Jackson any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Adam Clark we are at the consent agenda 23-004 is a communication from the mayor and Corporation Council with a request to approve the Declaration of local state of emergency 23-005 is a communication from the city manager and Director of Human Resources with a request to authorize the payment of a workers compensation settlement in the amount of one hundred and forty thousand dollars to a firefighter injured on two separate dates going back to 2019.

23-006 is a communication from the city manager and Corporation Council with a request to approve a settlement agreement and release in exchange for the resignation of Jeremy Layman 23-007 is a communication from the city manager and Corporation Council with a request to approve a real estate purchase agreement with Illinois Valley Public telecommunications in the city of Peoria 23-008 is a communication with a request to approve a resolution authorizing Kyle cratty to serve as Trustee of the only public reserves Investment Management Trust 22-433 is a communication from the city manager and director of public works with a request to approve an ordinance amending chapter 28 of the code of the city of Peoria relating to the Transportation Commission 23-009 is a communication with a request to concur with recommendation from the Planning and Zoning commission and staff to adopt an ordinance approving a special use in a class R3 single-family residential district for a short-term rental for the property located at 1001 Northeast Glen Oak Avenue 23-010 is a communication with a request to concur with a recommendation from the Planning and Zoning commission and staff to adopt an ordinance amending a special use in a class C to large-scale commercial District to allow an adult use cannabis dispensary for the property located at 1210 West Glen Avenue which includes properties located at 1222 West Glen Avenue 4730-4732-4734-4736-4738-4800-4810 and 4816 North University Street commonly known as Crossroads Center shopping center 23-011 is a communication with a request to concur with recommendation from the Planning and Zoning commission and staff to adopt an ordinance rezoning property from class R3 single-family residential district to class C and neighborhood commercial district for the property located at 331 Northeast Perry Avenue and 23-012 is a communication with a request to receive and file the month ended November 30th 2022 unaudited financial report and that concludes our consent agenda thank you madam clerk are there items to remove from consent council member record thank you madam mayor 23-007 thank you council member of valpulla Maria 23-011 [Music] 23-011 thank you council member Jensen thank you madam mayor 23-005 council member Kelly thank you madam mayor 23004 any more items to remove from consent can I get a motion to approve all the other items council member rickenback seconded by council member Graham please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously and Clerk 23-004 is a communication from the mayor and Corporation Council with a request to approve the Declaration of local state of emergency and on your desk there is a yellow handout of a revised declaration thank you madam mayor you're welcome Mr Corporation Council I'd just like to uh be clear that since the governor continues to say there's a state of emergency in the state of Illinois we are not compelled to by that him doing that we're not compelled to also declare such a state are we councilman we are we are not compelled that is an independent Judgment of this body to come you know the mayor makes the Declaration and then we accommodate that the council can take action if it chooses to uh with regard to that activity by the mayor thank you um uh man mayor I'll be voting no again okay on this item thank you you're welcome any more discussion on this item may I have a motion to approve moved by council member Allen seconded by council member valpulla any other discussion please cast your ballots motion passes one nay Kelly Madam Clerk 23-005 is a communication from the city manager and Director of Human Resources with a request to authorize the payment of a workers compensation settlement in the amount of one hundred and forty thousand dollars to a firefighter injured on two separate dates going back to 2019.

council member Jensen uh thank you madam mayor I've pulled this because I will be abstaining from this matter my husband's Law Firm represented the city in this matter okay thank you thank you I get a motion to approve this item moved by council member Sears seconded by council member Allen any other discussion please cash your ballots motion passes with one abstention Jensen Madam Clerk 23-007 is a communication from the city manager and Corporation Council with requests to approve a real estate purchase agreement with Illinois Valley Public to telecommunications and the city of Peoria Madame mayor um and a member of the executive team of the Illinois Valley Public Television Communications most most probably known most frequently here is wtvp I will be abstaining from this vote thank you um councilman sir was that a motion to approve okay is there a second seconded by council member uh rickenback any other discussion please cast your ballots motion passes with one abstention Rec Regal Madam Clerk 23-011 is a communication from the city manager and director of Community Development with requests to concur with recommendation from the Planning and Zoning commission and staff to adopt an ordinance rezoning property from a class R3 single-family residential district to class C and neighborhood commercial district for the property located at 331 Northeast Perry Avenue councilmember valpulla thank you madam mayor I just have a clarification question so the this agenda is about rezoning a property from residential to see a neighborhood commercial but I also got you know I was confused to see that the proposed zoning would also allow for a short-term rental use so that means you have a building which has the upper story is an office space and lower one was a short-term rental and so I've been I've been in this process for probably quite some time and this is the first time I see a commercial as well as a residential as well as a short term so I don't know whether we we are taking that route going forward if let's say um I wanted to buy a property and then that property has a kitchen everything then so everybody will can come and ask saying that can we reason it to residential so are we going to take a step um as a blanket ordinance that this could be used both as a residential and short-term rental or we will get one more shot at this for the short term short term Mr manager can you provide some clarification uh thanks mayor actually I'm going to probably turn it over to our assistant community development director Leah Ellison who I think can provide some clarity on the the kind of mixed use that you can have in the CN zoning classification and then that's um completely accurate Mr manager and thank you um the CN neighborhood commercial neighborhood zoning class is a mixed-use district that allows both certain commercial uses and residential uses one of them being the short-term rental opportunity so it it's in keeping with the zoning class of neighborhood commercial does that answer your question a little bit I have one follow-up question so when you went to Zone this did you did you have uh your frame of mind to to allow it to change it to change the residential to near the commercial zoning or you went there to see if the zoning is for short term I mean you'll have two different criterias allowing two different things happening in one house if I'm if I'm understanding correctly potentially yes yeah when you change properties to a different zoning class it it opens up every every permitted use in that zoning class so we're not focused just on the short-term rental it's it's an opportunity for anything within that zoning District that you have to keep in mind um the the thought behind the request is to allow more of a meeting space opportunity kind of a a niche Boutique type setting it's a very unique structure with um a an existing decor and framework that I think the property owner is looking to take advantage of and utilize as a um A Gathering Place that would be again in keeping with that neighborhood commercial there's also some thought that if the opportunity presents itself to be appropriate for a short-term rental as well again both uses are allowed as a permitted use in the neighborhood commercial District thank you as I understand it the mixed uses is trending more especially in urban areas and we're likely to see more of mixed-use purposes eventually yes yeah do you have any more questions or comments councilman not not really but for me to really accept this I mean it's good that there is urbanization it's good like people are thinking out of the box to have multiple things happening at one as a Consul are we so let's say now the 3 30 Northeast Ferry guy come up and say we wanted to change it so it's it's given now going forward if anybody can have if if they are in that CN zoning they could use it for short-term rental as well if I am understanding right correct thank you so much council member Kelly thank you madam mayor just for clarification as I read this the first floor is office second floor is residential is that correct currently the structure is all residential I I understand but the zoning change to Neighborhood commercial is going to have commercial on the on the ground floor residential on the Upper Floor is that correct that that could be yes What Becomes of the property but the all floor all you know all parts of the property if approved would be Zone neighborhood commercials so there wouldn't be um a specific distinction between each floor there is in the communication though as the as the owner has described to us that is her desire to give us kind of a framework of what her intent is but with a zoning change if approved that's not that would not be a limiting factor as described it's just helping you as a commission understand what maybe the intent is behind the request so my impression in reading this item was that the Upper Floor could be permanent residential let's say or short-term uh short-term rental and the ground floor would be office space I am incorrect in that assumption is that right that is true that could happen but I couldn't explain it wouldn't be limited to that yes that's what I mean it thank you councilmember regenbach thank you madam mayor When Miss Graves approached us about the project she had in mind I think it's important to point out that currently this is zoned R3 which is single family residential and if you think about the location of this this is on that strip of property between Interstate 74 and Spalding Avenue it's not even a whole block width and I think it would be safe to say to see single family residential in that area is probably never going to happen um so in order to help facilitate development there Community Development led by assistant director Allison was doing some brainstorming about what would be the appropriate buffer between the central business district and and the North Valley and as you cross Spaulding Avenue there's still kind of a hodgepodge of zoning there but we have the diocese owns a number of properties there and there is some various uses currently so this CN really Rose to the surface as being the logical thing for us to to do and I I would dare say that that entire strip from um 74 up to where it dissolves into Knoxville this commercial neighborhood zoning would be an appropriate thing to consider in the future for the the other Parcels as well because it isn't as intense as as straight commercial but it provides some opportunities that are a little more outside the box than than what we've seen in the past so I I endorse this we hosted a meeting with the developer and invited some of the key stakeholders from the North Valley to come in um I with that said I would move for the approval uh second by council member Euler uh continued discussion council member valpulla this is the last question I promise so how many other in that zoning how many residential houses are still there like now we are changing this one this is a health R3 single family residential to class CN right how many other houses are there who are residential in that strip um as as councilman rigenbach described there are a couple additional residential structures as you go north up towards the top of the hill towards Knoxville that our our Zone residential they're they're there but in the future there may be opportunity to to reconsider a zoning change for those properties as well thank you so much thank you very much you're welcome okay any other discussion please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk we would be at regular business and we have nothing listed so we will move on to unfinished business 22-436 is a communication from the city manager and director of Community Development with a request to approve a contract with door and Associates Inc for the Harrison School demolition projects Mr manager uh thank you mayor uh I'd like to ask director Doolin to kind of walk through this item we did have some additional due diligence that was done over the past several weeks and so I think he can provide that update to the council uh thank you Mr Andrew thank you mayor thank you Council uh it asks that you approved this contract uh the get us started on the Harrison School demolition some of the remaining issues we had to work out was with the uh recommended contractor making sure they could follow all of our regulations and guidance around labor they've indicated that they will upon passage be signing on with our local labor organizations to ensure that the apprenticeship program and all those things are being taken care of in addition they indicated that they will be hiring for their hauling a local minority contractor as well great can I get a motion to approve councilmember Jackson seconded by council member valpulla in the other discussion please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk we are at new business is there any new business all right there we go council member rickenback thank you madam mayor um I just wanted to give a little follow-up to the council with um some things that have occurred with the Darwin sfr3 situation since our last meeting on December 20th um staff well first of all we were able to reach sfr3 directly and director doing did a great job of maneuvering through the Labyrinth of corporate and property managers and whatnot and was able to get a one month extension for all of those property tenants that were affected by that order to vacate but even um in addition to that on December 20th we held a virtual town hall meeting if you will with Prairie State Legal Service just making available information to the tenants what their rights are and what recourse they would have um if these rights were not being respected in in light of that discussion there was a neighborhood meeting last week at the East Bluff Community Center still a lot of concerns and I would also say there's a fair amount of misinformation out there still that needs some clarity so I'm talking with the mayor and the director we thought I thought I would suggest that we have a a presentation at our second meeting in February with some of the the key stakeholders prairies um in that Prairie State excuse me I'm puree opportunities um Phoenix Continuum of Care that the folks who were involved at the street level on affordable housing issues and I think it would be important for for us to be reminded but more importantly for our constituents to know of our ongoing efforts and how we are using our resources to address this issue of the unsheltered and more importantly tenants rights and and making sure that there is an affordable housing stock available for those folks that are coming down to crunch time and don't have a place to move on January 31st Community Development has resources available 494 8600 is the number to Community Development they would be a resource for you and if it's a crisis situation 2-1-1 is always a good number to call as well so I would ask to have a presentation prepared for the second meeting in February as I said on these issues and we want to make sure that folks know that we are being as proactive as we can to address them thank you for taking leadership on that councilman reagenbach is a really important topic for discussion thank you councilmember Jackson thank you madam mayor I just had one uh issue I wanted to see if City staff could give us a report back I've had questions from residents about numbers of smoke shops popping up they're all over the place and uh and one in fact one resident had expressed concern about uh product being sold to minors is there some way we could uh get a count of just how many there are all around the city and uh maybe we could that would give us some indication as to how we should evaluate this situation we would be happy to give you a report back on all that thank you thank you thank you madam mayor council member Allen thank you madam mayor Happy New Year to all the constituents in the audience and all those listening and viewing as well too a friendly reminder that the eighth annual uh 365 breakfast presented by the Peoria Public Schools Foundation is this Thursday this is a drive-through breakfast event so uh with a suggested donation you will be able to pick up a prefix from HyVee on Sheridan and then you can take that to your place of employment or you can take it back home and then you can watch the virtual presentation that will begin via the Peoria Public Schools Facebook page at 10 A.M Peoria Public School alumni Corey Marshall is this year's keynote speaker and so he's a very Dynamic individual Man without file for turning Incorporated Shameless plug there but he's also on the Board of Trustees of Eureka College and it's worked in the administration of JB pritzker uh President Obama and a few other elected officials so he's a very very successful alumni and product of Peoria Public Schools so as you kick off your New Year you're looking to support Peoria Public School this is a great opportunity the foundation provides uniforms classroom grants for our amazing teachers and so much more addressing the basic needs of our families within Peoria Public Schools thank you thank you Council councilmember Kelly thank you madam mayor I would like to take this time to commend Our Community Development Department director director doing for his continuing work on streamlining and and making uh much better for the city our system of acquiring uh taxed delinquent properties Mr Doolin had or director doing has coordinated with other cities in the state they've brought they're bringing forward a new statute to address something called sale in error which if passed would knock off Year's worth of waiting to be able to acquire some of these properties and and perhaps hopefully set up a system where renovation is much more economical than than it is without it and or demolition uh uh much more quickly so that these uh blighted if if the property is that blighted it doesn't necessarily it doesn't negatively affect the neighborhood for any longer than possible uh they've done yeoman's work I just I'm I'm thrilled with the direction it's going and uh kudos to director doing thank you madam mayor any other new business Adam Clark we're at citizens opportunity to address the city council and I have not received any comment cards let's keep going okay then we are at executive session Council Hayes thank you very much prior to a separate motion to adjourn I'd like to invite a motion to convene in closed session immediately after a German of the city council meeting pursuant to the open meetings act Section 5 ilcs 120-2 C2 to discuss Collective negotiating matters and pursuant to the open meetings Act five ilcs section 120-2 c21 for approval by the body of closed session minutes so we're voting to adjourn and go into closed session I have a motion moved by council member Sears seconded by councilmember Jackson is cash your ballots [Applause] motion passes unanimously mayor we need a separate motion to adjourn thank you okay hold it we just moved to go into executive session now I need a separate motion to adjourn move by council member Allen seconded by council member Kelly please cash your ballots we are adjourned thank you for your service