ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and Director of Community Development with a Request to Concur with the Recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission to ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending Appendix A, the Unified Development Code, of the City of Peoria Relating to MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DWELLINGS IN OFFICE, COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL ZONING DISTRICTS. (City Wide)
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BACKGROUND:
Prior to the wide-spread introduction of zoning regulations in the early 20th Century, apartments were constructed in proximity to single-family, commercial, and office uses. Beyond an outright prohibition on such development schemes, the lack of private transportation prior to the middle of the 20th Century all but required residential development of all types to be built within walking, or public transit distance from employment and services. When zoning districts were first introduced, different uses (single-family, multi-family, office, commercial, industrial) were geographically separated from each other. This "traditional" approach to zoning and land use remained in place from the 1930's until the early part of the 21st Century. As communities throughout the nation began to realize that many of the regulations found in traditional zoning were in fact detrimental to development, the concept of "mixed-use" zoning was introduced. In many ways, mixed-use zoning was simply a return to something that resembled city development prior to the introduction of zoning regulations.
Zoning regulations were first adopted by the City of Peoria in 1931. As such, almost all development south of Forrest Hill Avenue was developed without any underlying zoning districts. The area of the city north of Forrest Hill, and particularly north of War Memorial Drive was developed with the goal of separating uses from each other. The development of the Heart of Peoria Plan and the adoption of the Land Development Code began to remove some of the regulatory barriers ...
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