Peoria city leaders seem receptive to the notion of using small dwellings as temporary housing for unsheltered individuals, but they want more details before moving forward with necessary changes to building and zoning codes.
“There’s a lot more to be talked about on this, and I think it’s really important for us as a council to be as united as we possibly can be going forward,” City Council member Tim Riggenbach said during a 45-minute discussion during Tuesday’s meeting that lasted nearly 2½ hours before going into executive session.
“It’s important for us, important for me, to keep in mind that the numbers aren’t going away, and this problem seems to be systemic throughout the country. We’re not going to come up with a solution that houses everybody, but I want to get to that ‘functional zero’ — I think is a word that I hear a lot — that we aim for that, that that’s our objective.”
The conversation stemmed from the council’s requested report-back from council members on the “tiny homes” possibility during a special June policy session on addressing homelessness throughout the city.
At that policy session, Dream Center Peoria Executive Director Andy King discussed the agency's in-development proposal for tiny homes development.
While Tuesday’s council action was intended as a “receive-and-file” of the staff’s report, Community Development Director Joe Dulin explained the staff was seeking council’s direction on whether it should move forward with drafting changes to the building and zoning codes.
“As of right now, our code does not allow for these pallet shelters to be in place, whether that’s through the zoning code or the building code,” said Dulin, adding staff would need to amend the zoning code to add a definition for “transient lodging” and to allow for special-use approvals of such lodging in specifically zoned areas.
Mayor Rita Ali was among those hesitant to move forward with any code changes without more information.
“This just doesn’t paint enough of a picture for me, not yet,” said Ali. “I know it’s still exploration, but I want, in practicality, I want to see or know more about how it actually plays out in Peoria, where it might play out in Peoria.”
Council member Zach Oyler questioned whether a “receive-and-file” action was appropriate when the actual intent was for the council to give the staff direction on how to proceed. City attorney Patrick Hayes said they wanted to gauge the conversation for context to determine the next steps.
“In my opinion, a more appropriate way to handle this would be a policy session. I’m in line with, I think, where the mayor’s at on this is. I think the ‘tiny home’ concept is great, and probably where we need to go at some point with this,” said Oyler.
“But one of the concerns I have here with it right now is the ‘where’ plays a big factor in this, and how we’re going to actually execute it.”
Several council members voiced concerns that downtown Peoria has tended to be where many shelter options for unhoused individuals are located, fearing an oversaturation in the area if a tiny homes village was added.
In response to a question from council member Andre Allen, Dulin noted that a tiny homes village project is being developed in Bloomington. Last month, the nonprofit Home Sweet Home Ministries broke ground on a non-congregate shelter with 48 sleeping cabins on a fully enclosed campus.
The $2.65 project is funded in part by a $1.3 million grant from McLean County. Annual operating expenses are anticipated at about $1 million.
“I do believe that we do need to explore all tools to go in our toolkit to address this issue for our community,” said Allen. “So I am open to the idea of learning more about what we can do with this potential variation.”
Council members Bernice Gordon-Young, Kiran Velpula and Mike Vespa did not attend the meeting.
In another previously requested report-back, the council was provided with a comprehensive inventory of off-premise advertising or billboards within the city. Hayes noted that due to various code changes over the years, about 90% of signage in the city is “legal, non-conforming.”
“One of the issues that came up is that other communities have annual inspections of their outdoor advertising facilities,” said Hayes. “We don’t presently do that, but we’re working towards a set of regulations that would tell the industry what we’re going to regulate and inspect for, and we’ll be presenting that set of outcomes when we come back to council.”
Other business
Items approved as part of the consent agenda include:
- Adopting an inducement resolution for the potential redevelopment of the former International Harvester buildings at 1301-1309 SW Washington St.;
- Agreeing to split a previous redevelopment agreement into two separate agreements with Reality Partners Master Tenant for residential redevelopments at 800 and 801 SW Washington St.;
- A $45,000 contract with Rehrig Pacific to purchase about 700 new 95-gallon garbage carts and 200 lids for replacement and inventory, as well as a $21,000 contract with Wastequip for 50 dome-top 60-gallon litter containers for neighborhood trash cans;
- Approving an agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation and a total expense of no more than $3,852 for the city’s participation in in the Farmington Road resurfacing project; and
- Appointing Cynthia Oliveros as a voting member of the Peoria Civic Center Authority Board.
The lone proclamation recognized National Emergency Management Awareness Month.
