Plan Commission Recommends Street Vacations

The Effingham City Plan Commission got its work done in 12 minutes Tuesday night.

The Commission voted to recommend the City Council vacate a portion of Virginia Avenue and a portion of Cherry Street, along with a portion of a dedicated alley.

Greg Koester of the City Engineer's office explained that the portion of Virginia Avenue runs into the Effingham County Health Department, while the portion of Cherry Street and the alley had never been developed as roadways. Koester said the Health Department and a neighboring property owner requested the action. The properties will revert to the neighboring property owners.

Just for the record, the portion of Cherry Street was originally Ann Street and the portion of Virginia Avenue was originally Willard Street. The street names were changed in 1948.

The Commission also recommended approval of a replat of the third addition of Crossroads Center Subdivision. The site is currently one lot housing a strip mall and a bank. The replat will put the strip mall on one lot and the bank on another lot.

A petition to rezone 15870 North 1400th Street from general commercial district to light industrial district was withdrawn at the petitioner's request, so was not voted on. Koester said the petitioner plans to rework the request and submit it again next month.