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 McDonalds drive thru area
Lebegue presented a concept drawing of the new McDonalds that will
be built at the corner of Woodlawn Road and Lincoln Parkway. The
plan includes the demolition of the former Tropics Restaurant and
AT&T store that are there currently.
Lebegue pointed out the drive-thru area for the restaurant and told
the council that the city always has to approve a special use permit
for drive-thru construction, so this is not an extraordinary
request.
He pointed out that the drive-thru design meets and exceeds all the
requirements. Specifically, the path of the drive-thru must not
interfere with street traffic. He said the requirement was that the
drive-thru has enough off-street driveway for a minimum of five cars
to be waiting in line at once. He said the plan before the city had
much more driveway space than needed.
The City Plan Commission reviewed the plans for the drive-thru last
week and recommended approval.
Looking at the drawing, Michelle Bauer asked to clarify that the
city was only approving the drive-thru area, not the entry area
marked on the plan coming in from Woodlawn. Lebegue said that was
correct.
 Bauer also said that she had concerns and issues with the thought of
an entrance on Woodlawn. Jonie Tibbs wondered where the Woodlawn
entrance would be compared to the buildings that are there
currently. Lebegue said it was in the vicinity of Jake’s Furniture
store. But, he said he didn’t know that the Illinois Department of
Transportation would even approve that portion of the site plan, in
fact, he highly doubted that they would.
He said that his guess was that IDOT would require that the
restaurant utilizes Hickox Drive, and enter north of the restaurant,
where patrons now enter for the current McDonalds. He said he could
see a right-turn only exit only for Woodlawn, that it would be
unsafe for there to be lane crossings for east and west traffic in
that area.
He shared that the site plan has not yet been submitted to IDOT, so
those decisions are still pending.
Fast Track demolition projects
The city recently approved two fast track demolition projects for
the fiscal year ending April 30th, 2016. Tuesday evening, Lebegue
recommended two more demolition projects that will spend the budget
appropriation for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2017.
1402 N. Kickapoo - Lebegue presented photos of a property at
1402 North Kickapoo in Lincoln. Lebegue said this location was a
former business and residence that is abandoned and causing life
safety issues in the community.
He noted that the building is overgrown and is currently a nesting
place for wild animals. He said there is also a lot of trash there,
and it appears that some people are using the site as a personal
dump.
Lebegue said he had received quotes on the project from Harold
Goodman and Moody Excavation. Goodman had quoted the project that
includes two buildings at approximately $18,000. Moody’s quote was
for $7,500.
Lebegue explained the difference in the cost, saying that Moody’s is
going to absorb a large portion of the cost because he is a member
of this community, and he wants to help the city get this place
cleaned up.
Lebegue concluded that there are safety concerns and health concerns
at this property and also that getting the buildings taken down will
add value to the rest of the community. It was also noted that the
property is zoned commercial, and having the derelict building gone
could open that parcel to new commercial development.
For geographical reference; this property is at the intersection of
North Kickapoo and Denver Avenue, on the east side of the road, just
north of Lincoln Land Communications.
512 North Monroe - Lebegue said this was another property
that has to go. He noted that the owner of the property has been
ordered multiple times to clean it up and has even spent time in
jail after defying court orders to that effect. Therefore, it is
time for the city to take the matter into its own hands.
He said the property is falling down. The roof is caving in on the
back side, and in the past there has been a great accumulation of
trash behind the house. He noted that the owner uses the back for
storage of junk, but has recently removed some of the accumulation.
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Lebegue showed a photo of the back side of the property illustrating that the
roof has large holes in it and is falling off at the back edge. He said again,
the property is housing vermin and wild animals, and poses health and safety
concerns for the community.
Lebegue noted that the property stands out in the community because of its poor
condition, and said taking action would increase the value of properties in the
community.
Lebegue said estimates from Goodman and Moody had been received. Goodman quoted
$4,300 for the demolition, and Moody quoted $4,800.
Lebegue concluded asking the council to approve the demolition projects next
week and grant the jobs to Moody for 1402 N. Kickapoo and to Goodman for 512
North Monroe.
Geographically, this property is located south of Woodlawn Road between 13th
Street and Short Eleventh Street.
Street side parking for trailers
Once again, Lebegue is asking the council to reconsider their position on
allowing trailers, boats, campers and such to park along the streets of Lincoln.
Tuesday night, he said that he was bringing back an issue that was hashed out in
2012 with little progress.
At that time, new rules were written for street side parking, which failed to
pass with the sitting council. Those rules were quite complicated and addressed
not only street side parking, but also parking of campers and trailers in
driveways and the lawn areas in front of and behind respective homes. As a
result of the complexity of the new rules, and the council’s inability to reach
an agreement on what was fair and acceptable, a motion made in 2012 to pass the
new rules failed and the topic was dropped.
Lebegue said the current ordinance permits anyone to park anything on the street
for a 72-hour period. But, he said the problem is that as the rule is written,
anyone who does do this, can simply keep track of the hours, and go out and move
the parked item a few inches and the clock restarts. Therefore, he said, the
current ordinance is unenforceable.
Lebegue said that this practice makes for some very complicated situations for
the city street department. He noted instances such as the heavy snows a few
winters ago, saying that the city plows had to navigate around parked trailers
and other items, creating large piles of snow that took long periods of time to
eliminate.
Lebegue is asking the council to make a small change in the language of the
current ordinance. He said he wanted the ordinance to give anyone permission to
park in front of their property for 72 hours; and the allowance stops there.
This would mean that moving a trailer or vehicle a few inches would not re-start
the clock, and after a 72 hour period had passed, the city ordinance could be
enforced.
Alderwoman Jonie Tibbs asked if the change would affect all trailers, regardless
of their use.
Lebegue said it would.
Tibbs commented then on those who use trailers in their business for loading and
unloading for freight.
Lebegue said that his office would “work with” those types of scenarios. He
added that often, those who do use trailers for their business would contact his
office and advise him of what they will be doing and for how long.
Tibbs asked if the trailers could be parked in personal driveways. Lebegue said
yes and no. In the portion of the driveway that extends from the front of the
home to the street, trailers may not be parked. However, if a driveway passes
the house so that the trailer can be pulled in and parked beside the house, but
behind the front of the house, that is acceptable.
Bauer said, using her street as an example, that there are cases when there is
no side of the house or back alleyway parking at all. She said this rule would
make it difficult for homeowners in that situation. Lebegue said he was aware of
that, and named a few streets where off street parking within the city’s rules
would be impossible. Bauer said she just wanted to be cautious in the decisions
the council makes.
Jeff Hoinacki noted that this was a big issue in 2012 that garnered a lot of
public input, mostly opposing the plan. He said he would like to delay the vote
on this item, put an explanation on the city website, and ask for public
opinion.
The council agreed. The city will post information regarding the proposed
ordinance changes on its website and seek public input. Aldermen will then
revisit the topic at the July 26th Committee of the Whole meeting. It should be
decided then whether or not to place a motion on the voting agenda for the first
week in August.
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Due to the Fourth of July holiday, the next voting session of the Lincoln City
Council will be moved to July 5th.
The Committee of the Whole meeting for July 12th was canceled by Mayor Marty
Neitzel.
[Nila Smith]
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