The City of Peoria continues to look at strengthening its enforcement targeting chronic nuisance properties.
But a proposal championed by city council member Denise Jackson that would require around the clock staffing at large apartment complexes failed to advance.
“Councilwoman Jackson and I share a common goal in this enterprise, which is dealing with folks who co-opt rental properties and particularly congregate rental properties for criminal purposes,” city attorney Patrick Hayes said Tuesday during the Peoria City Council meeting.
“So we are aligned on where we want to wind up. The tools that we would use, we have a difference of opinion about what might ultimately be enforceable [and] what we might successfully defend if we’re challenged [in court].”
The council was asked to decide between two options for taking steps to address the security concerns at large multi-unit rental properties. Hayes favored amendments that would give the existing nuisance property ordinance more teeth.
The changes would allow the city to label a property as a nuisance when three qualifying criminal violations occur within a 12-month period. Those violations could be anywhere on the property, criminal activity by trespassers, in addition to owners and tenants, would qualify.
“We’re looking at the management of these congregate units as a whole and retooling it to apply across that entire property instead of just a unit-by-unit basis,” said Hayes.
Jackson’s proposed new ordinance would’ve required residential complexes with more than 50 units to have two staff members on site at all times. That would include an on-site property manager during the work week, and either one or two security guards.
Additionally, the apartment buildings would need to have a video surveillance system covering all entrances and exits, parking areas, and interior common areas.
“I don't want to waste this opportunity because I think there's a real concern out there,” said Jackson. “I think we, as a council, have to do a little bit more to satisfy concerns when with regards to public safety.”
Jackson initially requested a deferral of both considerations, but her motion was not seconded and did not go to a vote. Her motion to approve her proposed ordinance also failed without receiving a second.
Ultimately, the council decided to defer a vote on amending the existing nuisance ordinance for 30 days.
West Main TIF hearing
A Peoria looks to implement a tax increment financing incentive [TIF District] to spur growth along the West Main Street corridor, one Peoria Board of Education member is asking city leaders to keep District 150 in consideration.
“I’m not trying to stop the TIF train, but I do want to hopefully have more of a dialog about the impacts of our TIFs on our taxing bodies, including our public school district,” school board member Sarah Howard said during the public hearing on the West Main TIF.
“Cities around us, when they establish a TIF, they do a carve-out or they do some kind of some other revenue sharing agreement with their home school district because they really, really don’t want to take from them. They want to take care of their local school district.”
The West Main TIF area extends from Liberty Street on the east to Harrison Street on the west, consisting of multiple commercial and residential properties. The proposal aims to redevelop a corridor that is “currently underutilized” for commercial and residential purposes.
Howard was one of five residents to speak during the public hearing. Among them was Katie Eckert, who lives in the nearby Moss-Bradley neighborhood.
“I love where I live. I love it as it is, and would love for it to get better,” said Eckert. “But I would love to see it [developed] in an incremental way, or a way in which the vibrancy is preserved.”
“Before approving projects for TIF, it’s essential that local governments, to the best of their ability, ensure that the TIF money is going to truly necessary value-creating projects that can’t happen any other way,” added community advocate Per Ellingson, “and not to subsidize development that could have been achieved by other another means.”
A vote on final approval for the West Main TIF is expected at the Aug. 25 council meeting.
