Zoning and Land Use Planning Discussed by City Council

A conversation about a potential rezoning issue led to a larger discussion about zoning and land use at Tuesday night's Effingham City Council meeting.

The proposed zoning change involves property along Miracle Avenue. The developer would like the land rezoned for multi-family dwellings. The matter was only on the Council agenda for discussion, but that led to a question from City Commissioner Hank Stephens about how often the City's Comprehensive Land-Use Plan is updated. Stephens said, "We need to discipline ourselves to update the Plan every five years." He also asked about whether there is sufficient land for residential development? City Planner Greg Koester responded that there is land, but said he feels "We have a shortage of willing sellers" and that involves land prices.

Public Works Director Jeremy Heuerman said the full land use plan was approved in 2017, and said the downtown plan has been updated since that time.

Also Tuesday, the Council approved a restatement of a memorandum of understanding between the City and the Effingham Unit 40 school district regarding their School Resource Officer program. The City and the schools are working on other initiatives that would get officers into local schools.

The Council approved a $110,000 contribution to the Effingham Regional Growth Alliance and will have two members on the Alliance Board of Directors. The City's current representatives are Economic Development Director Todd Hull and Stephens. The Council also granted a special use permit to SHA Properties to place miniwarehouses at the corner of Raney and McGrath in the City Business Park. Also approved was the award of bids totaling $420,294 for City Hall fire protection and fire alarm installation. 

The Council awarded a proposal for rebuilding the intersection of Evergreen Avenue and Willenborg Street. Farnsworth Group will do the construction engineering on the project. The City said the work at the intersection will begin this coming Monday and will last for three months, so the intersection will be closed during that time. Residents in that area will have access to their homes.

The Council discussed plans for the Effingham High School Homecoming Parade on Wednesday, September 27, but delayed any action until they can monitor progress on the Fayette Avenue reconstruction project. Speaking of the Fayette project, a reminder that there will be no access to Raney Street off Fayette as of this morning until September.