Busy Agenda Addressed by Plan Commission

The Effingham City Plan Commission Tuesday voted to recommend the City Council rezone property at Jaycee Avenue and Four Seasons Drive. The rezoning would allow construction of apartment buildings at the location.

Realtor Keith Hartman said there is room for up to eight four-unit apartment buildings on the property west of Puerta Vallarta restaurant and east of Four Seasons Mobile Home Park. Hartman said he and previous realtors have tried to sell the property for several years with the price of the land adjusted accordingly. He said the buildings would be four-unit apartment structures.

The lack of movement as far as property sales in the area and the City's desire for more residential properties were mentioned by commissioners as reasons to support the rezoning, and Commission Chairman Brian Hayes said the City has often used multi-family developments as a transition between other residential and commercial development.

The proposal is to rezone the land from light industrial district to multi-family residential district. The City Council has the final word on rezonings.

The Commission also recommended the Council rezone land on Crystal Club Road at 1495th from non-urban to single-family residential.

Commission members recommended the Council approve a text amendment in the Municipal Code that would allow Kristen Allen to extend a short-term rental for her property at 4th and Evergreen to the end of 2021. The parcel is the only one like it in the city.

The Commission approves a site plan for Niemerg's Steak House on West Fayette Avenue, where they'd like to add a drive-thru pickup window to the north side of the building. Drive-thru customers would enter through the east entrance, drive around behind the building to pick up their order, and head out the west exit back onto Fayette.

A site plan was also approved for a service and repair building to be built at Truck Centers at 1700 Gillenwater Avenue with consideration given to its close proximity to the TREC Trail there.

Commission members also recommended the Council approve a plat of Flowers Subdivision, a subdivision along the east side of 1000th Road at Prairie Ace Estates involving a three-lot development, and a plat of 7n8 Subdivision on the west side of Crystal Club Road at the extra-territorial jurisdiction line between Effingham and Teutopolis, south of Water Street.

A site plan and a rezoning for a QuikTrip at 1320 N. 3rd Street was delayed at the developer's request to the November Commission meeting. City Planner Greg Koester said the plan is to hold the meeting at the Effingham Performance Center due to the expected interest in the project and in consideration of any social distancing considerations still in place.