ACTION REQUESTED:
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Communication from the City Manager and Community Development Director with a Request to Concur with the Recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission and Staff to APPROVE a RESOLUTION Amending the Official COMPREHENSIVE PLAN for the City of Peoria by Incorporating the WISCONSIN AVENUE BUSINESS CORRIDOR PLAN. Case No. PZ 14-34. (District 3)
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BACKGROUND:
On December 10, 2013, the City Council approved hiring Farnsworth Group to develop a plan for the Wisconsin Avenue Business Corridor, generally between Glen Oak Avenue and Forrest Hill Avenue. The intent of the plan was to complement other ongoing activities in the East Bluff Area, such as the East Village Growth Cell TIF, the Illinois Attorney General Grant, and the location of the Resident Police Officer in the East Bluff NHS House.
The City requested that the final product be a one page poster that could be used by the City, the business owners and stakeholders in the area, and potential developers, to create a vision for the future. This stretch of Wisconsin Avenue has been a commercial corridor since the early Twentieth Century, and although it is not as healthy as in past decades, the potential exists to strengthen and revitalize this important corridor.
The planning process involved two stakeholder engagements. The first stakeholder engagement included individual interviews with each business owner. Approximately 20 businesses/property owners were interviewed during this process. The second stakeholder engagement was a neighborhood walking tour and design workshop, with approximately 30 business and community stakeholders in attendance. This was an interactive session in which participants sketched ideas on maps of the Wisconsin Avenue Business Corridor.
Ideas and suggestions from each outreach component were incorporated in the attached 'Poster Plan'. The Plan creates a vision for the future and is representative of those who live an...
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