 Owners expressing concerns were Sam Redding of Prairie Years; David
Lanterman of Beans and Such, Helen Rainforth of Abe's Carmelcorn,
and Tom O'Donohue of O'Donohue's Old Fashioned Soda Fountain and
Route 66 Hot Dogs. All posed the same concerns: parking being taken
all day by people working downtown and deteriorating buildings that
pose potential harm to people and property, as well as creating a
playground for delinquent youth activity.Parking is an everyday
problem in the downtown, each owner said. Around the square and the
side streets leading to it, parking is posted as a two-hour limit. A
couple of the merchants in different blocks have identified about
five vehicles, which constitutes half a block of parking, that are
taking up spaces every day, all day.
Some of the violators have been identified as business owners who
feel they are entitled to park their vehicles in front of their
businesses. Some are downtown business employees, and some are
either city or county office workers.
The city and the county have an agreement whereby the county has
six parking spaces around the courthouse that are posted for
specific personnel and a number of signed spaces delegated in the
city-owned Shay Parking lot, located behind the Arcade.
Alderman Joni Tibbs said that she went over and checked the Shay
Parking Lot one day. She observed that county-delegated spaces 7, 8,
9, 10 and 11 were unoccupied.
The merchants said that they have met with the county board to
discuss the matter and were pleased with their reception. The county
board chairman, Dick Logan, sent out a letter to county employees
and there was a good response. Merchants said they saw good results
at first but that some county employees have resumed parking all day
in prime spots since then.
What they wish the government employees would recognize is that
their wages are paid in part by sales taxes collected by their
businesses; therefore, it is to their benefit to help keep that
parking available to people who are there to shop.
He added, "We are working with the county, and they are being
responsive."
Lanterman said that they would like the city to make sure their
employees are not taking up parking spaces on the square. "Consider
that every parking space is a means to generate tax revenue for this
city and this county," he said. "So when those things are reduced by
private citizens for their use, their personal parking, that's a big
issue to us. And that happens continuously."
He has heard a number of complaints from his customers that they
couldn't find parking and just went back home. He said that this is
particularly a problem for the elderly; he's heard many say they
came up to shop or get lunch and couldn't find a parking space, "so
I just went back home," they tell him.
The other business owners said that they have heard the same from
their customers.
He recognizes that the police are short-staffed and that they
have more critical things to do than two-hour parking enforcement.
He would like to see some enforcement, particularly with the holiday
time coming when many merchants make the money that sees them
through the year. "It's a serious issue for us," he said.
It was stated that enforcement is not the solution but should
happen when it can. Enforcement just leads to everybody saying it's
OK to park around the square as long as they move their cars every
two hours.
Mayor Beth Davis-Kavelman said that the police department is
strapped now for manpower, but that she would ask Chief Stuart
Erlenbush to send officers out to mark car tires whenever they have
some free time.
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Rainforth said: We don't have any complaints, because we call the
police, they're there on the spot; we call the fire department,
they're there on the spot. Rather, she was there to offer solutions.
She submitted a couple of additional ideas to address the parking
issue. One was to send out a letter on city letterhead as a request
to downtown business owners, "as a gentle reminder, that those
parking spots are available to anyone shopping downtown." Anytime
anyone could ask their employees to adhere to it would be greatly
appreciated by all the business owners because the tax dollars
generated are a benefit to all.
Another solution Rainforth proposed would be to "bump the parking
tickets to where it is going to hurt in the first 24 hours and be
painful if not paid after 24 hours." This is something that most
small towns and cities have done, she said.
On deteriorating buildings
The business owners are concerned about the number of unoccupied,
deteriorating buildings in the downtown area. Rainforth, O'Donohue
and Redding all cited dilapidated buildings they believe pose a
threat, including the Scully building, the old freight depot across
from the passenger depot on Pekin Street and a building next to
State Bank. "There are quite a few buildings that no one tends to
think about," Rainforth said. Recalling how a woman was killed on
the highway by a stone thrown from a deteriorating Peoria bridge
last year, she said that she's recently found building tiles thrown
from the roof of a building near her business. The city now has a
number of aging, unkempt buildings, and often young people have been
seen hanging around these buildings in places they shouldn't be.
Downtown has a history of fires destroying entire blocks. It was
youth who set fire to the garment factory a couple of years ago. The
culprit of the Scully building fire was never found. In both those
instances it was very fortunate that the fire departments were able
to contain them with nominal damage to adjacent buildings.
"We're here to talk about protecting the whole downtown. We've
had too many tragedies; we can't afford any more," Rainforth said.
City attorney Bill Bates responded to the issue of dangerous
buildings. He said that demolition requires a lawsuit. "Then, if you
win that lawsuit, you have won the prize of paying to demolish that
building," he said. And then the city would then need to seek to
file a property lien that is nowhere near worth what the city has
spent to demolish the building. This is a financial matter that the
city cannot afford. He cited the Miller property at the corner of
Kickapoo and Pekin streets, which the city now owns at great
expense.
Bates proposed that what could be done would be to take advantage
of the nuisance act. There are some ordinances where a dangerous
building can be declared a nuisance and the owners can be fined on a
daily basis, he said.
Rather than seek demolition, he would work with the city code
enforcement officer, Lester Last, to take nuisance property owners
to circuit court, seeking a daily fine for allowing the conditions
to exist. To do this, Last would go out and list the areas of
deficiency that constitute a nuisance and send a notice to the
property owner. Then, if they don't respond, he will file a nuisance
complaint to the circuit court, he said.
This has been done a few times with some results, he said.
Redding responded that this would put the city on record as
taking some sort of action and then be seen as not being negligent,
thereby possibly relieving the city of potential liability.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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