The City of Peoria hopes to annex some Illinois Department of Transportation property along U.S. Route 150 to facilitate an extension of the sewer system.
The move to incorporate the IDOT Peoria West Operations Yard near Edwards is one of two annexations with public hearings and agenda votes scheduled for Tuesday’s Peoria City Council meeting.
City manager Patrick Urich says the IDOT annexation is necessary to connect the existing Greater Peoria Sanitary District sewer infrastructure with two businesses on the north side of the highway.
“We're going to be running a sewer line from the neighborhood just to the south of IDOT’s property through IDOT’s property and connecting to Pringle Technologies and Haven on the Farm, both of which, as a condition of their annexation into the city did require them to have public sewer hooked up,” he said.
Along with the annexation, the agenda seeks a council vote on an intergovernmental agreement with IDOT regarding stormwater management cooperation and an abatement of stormwater utility fees.
Urich said the funding for the sewer extension project will come from some remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money and a $600,000 earmark from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
The Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously in recommending approval of the annexation and sewer project.
Seasonal amusement park
The other annexation scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting is related to the planned development of a new seasonal amusement park on the northwestern edge of Peoria.
Developer Mark Larson's project calls for batting cages, two miniature golf courses and two paved go-kart tracks over 13.5 acres along Orange Prairie Road.
“With Louisville Slugger in the northwest part of the city and all of the other amenities nearby, we think it's a complimentary use and it's a good use of the property,” Urich said.
The city previously annexed nine acres on the new project’s footprint in anticipation of a similar project that never materialized. The new proposal calls for the city to annex the additional 4.5 acres, rezone the land to general commercial, and approve a special use for outdoor recreation.
Larson told the Planning and Zoning Commission the park would be open from April through mid-November, with business hours from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In two split votes, the commission approved recommending the rezoning and special use requests.
