Local News

Amid Residents' Concerns, PPS Tables Plans for Parking Lot at Franklin Primary

WCBU | By Cass Herrington

Published August 8, 2017 at 9:46 AM CDT

Franklin Primary School was next in line for one of the district’s 54 facilities upgrades. But the improvement project is on hold, as school district officials address concerns from nearby residents.

The proposal would develop an adjacent lot into 26 additional parking spaces for faculty and staff. Teachers at Franklin are often forced to park on the street, which creates congestion when buses line up to pick up and drop off students.

But some neighbors are opposed to the idea of turning the block into a parking lot. They say it would be a loss for the neighborhood and for the kids, who don’t have a green area to play.

Bernadine Nolan is President of the Columbia Terrace North neighborhood association. She’s lived in the same house for almost 40 years and says she’d rather not see the green space become pavement.

“It just seems to me that they have enough parking already,” Nolan said. “But it’s their property, they can do with it as they so desire.”

The mowed, grassy block on the corner of Columbia Terrace and Bestor St. is shaded by a few large trees. The lot was identified as a potential parking area in the school district's list of improvement projects, funded by the Peoria County sales tax increase that voters approved last year.

Columbia Terrace North resident Molly Cadigan (left) went door-to-door to speak with neighbors about the proposal to turn the vacant lot into additional parking. Meka Adams (right) lives across the street from Franklin. Adams has four kids, two enrolled at Franklin. Both neighbors oppose paving the grassy area for parking. “It’s like the only open field we have if you look around the neighborhood, besides everyone’s small yards," Adams said.

Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon-Desmoulin Kherat says she wants to work with Franklin’s neighbors and faculty to find a solution that serves both a need for parking and a natural play area.

District spokesman Chris Copelan says school officials and the neighborhood association are hosting a public discussion Tues. to review the current plans.

“And also allow those residents to bring up other potential options to both provide parking and to look at if there’s any way to incorporate green space with the design,” Copelan said.

The meeting about the green space next to Franklin Primary is tonight at 6:30 pm at the school.

The proposal to add parking at Franklin is one of the projects in line to get funding from the sales tax increase that Peoria County voters approved last year.