The Pony Getting Harassed

In case you missed this, the owner of The Pony Cabaret and Steakhouse, which is not a strip club despite the complaints of some patrons who wish it was, filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that the Assistant City Attorney wants to close down the business.

Once again, it looks as if the city has gotten into a situation, much like Oakland Avenue Auto Repair, where it gave permission to a business to locate without considering all of the ramifications of the decision. I have heard of instances where people visiting SIUC have received directions taking them down Giant City Road, then on to Grand Avenue, bypassing downtown altogether.

Neighborhood Business District Tabled

The council spent about two hours last night not coming to a conclusion on how to modify the description of a Neighborhood Business District. The main sticking point, and it is a major one, is how to deal with larger commercial buildings grandfathered into what is now a residential area.

The primary sticking point is the area surrounding the intersection of Sycamore and Oakland, as the old Carbondale High School, National Guard Armory and Coke distribution nee Oakland Avenue Auto Repair buildings, all build before current zoning regulations went into effect but none of which are suitable for residential use.  How does the city, and by extension its residents, let the owners make use of their property while still maintaining the residential aspect of the area? While Oakland Avenue Auto Repair operated, those living in adjoining houses complained of auto exhaust coming into their homes on a regular basis. Going out your front door to a face full of car fumes is not what the residents expected when moving into their properties.

A proposal requiring towing services to provide additional tie downs around the wheels and detachable lights on the rear end of towed cars died for lack of a motion after strong arguments against the ordinance by local towing companies. Expense, possible damage to towed vehicles and increase in towing time, all argued by the towing companies, convinced council members not to move forward with the regulation.

Rather surprisingly, the budget passed with little discussion and only one comment from the audience, a call for further cuts to the budget including civic center staff and police department officers.

Council went into closed session about 10:40.

Oakland Avenue Auto Service

As the saga of Oakland Ave. Auto Repair continues, the owners have an appeal coming up before the Zoning Board of Appeals.  However, Oakland Auto Auto Repair apparently no long functions as an entity, as the signs have come down and there is a "For Rent" sign on the building.

TitleMax Coming

The agenda is not posted on the city's website yet, but the Planning Commission will meet on July 17 to consider, among other issues, a couple of zoning requests.  One, from Lindsey Fisher, requests a rezoning of 413 N. Oakland Ave from Low Density Residential to Neighborhood Business, as well as a Special Use Permit to operate an automobile repair service at the site.  Incidentally, just before this meeting, the Zoning Board of Appeals will meet to consider Fisher's appeal of the cease and desist letter from the city that caused the closure of Oakland Ave. Auto Service.  Fisher, or her representatives, looks to have a busy evening.

New on the agenda is a request from Jeff Cerma of TitleMax Illinois for a Special Use Permit for a credit service to open in the old Wendy's location on East Walnut, bringing in another short term loan company right across the street from the one already there and a block and a half away from the relocated State Finance.  I thought we were saturated but I guess TitleMax sees a growing market here for short term loans

More on Oakland Avenue Auto Repair

Harping on this again but I heard at yesterday's Chamber of Commerce meeting that the building was empty so stopped by this morning and took a look through the windows.  Sure enough, the only things in there were a Jetski, one car and a mop and bucket.  No lifts, no tools, no diagnostic equipment.  According to city manager Kevin Baity, the city has attempted to contact the owner of the business (not the building, that remains Home Rentals) but with no luck.

Oakland Avenue Auto Repair Re-zoning

Planning Commission meets at seven tonight to discuss three re-zoning requests.  The one likely to get the most attention is Lindsay Fisher's request to rezone the area at 413 N. Oakland to a Neighborhood Business District and then apply for a Special Uses permit to allow Oakland Avenue Auto Repair to re-open after the city served it a cease and desist order last month.

The problem is the people who live in the area moved there without the expectation that an auto repair shop would set up operations next door, increasing both the amount of noise in the area and the amount of exhaust coming from the facility.  Maintaining their quality of life argues against against approving the permit.

However, the city is actively encouraging development in that area, witness the designation of the stretch of Oakland running from Sycamore to the old high school complex a couple of blocks south, as a TIF Distict.  Given this, Fisher could reasonably argue that the city wants development there, which is just what the business will do.

Oakland Ave. Auto Repair

Oakland Avenue Auto Repair remains closed over a week after the city presented the owner of the property and the leesee with a cease and desist order for operating in a residential area without a special use permit.  I had thought the owner would have sought relief from the court allowing it to remain open while the facility remains in dispute but I guess not.

I hate seeing a thriving business shut down, and Oakland Avenue always appeared full, but I can also understand the local residents not wanting a garage opening up next door, especially when they had purchased the property with the understanding that only single family residences would be allowed in the area.  Of course, there is a fairly good sized apartment complex located right across the street from Oakland Avenue Auto Service and the National Guard Armory complex, recently acquired by Alpha Rentals, sits catty-cornered to it, while the old High School buildings remain just south, with the Armory and school buildings both part of one of the recently created TIF districts, indicating the city plans to encourage development in the area.

Oakland Ave. Auto Repair

The Oakland Avenue Auto Shop, which has operated in an area zoned for residential use without a special use permit for the year, was ordered closed last Friday, due to the lack of said permit.  I rather thought the owners would contact a judge about getting a stay of the order, but nope.  The business has been closed for the past couple of days.

City Council Meeting

Last night's City Council meeting got rolling fairly late last night.  I didn't turn on the television to watch until after 8 and the public hearings regarding establishment of the two new TIF districts were still going on.

Given that I had been told during earlier in the day that there was no opposition to establishing either TIF district (incidentally, it rather surprised me to hear both Mayor Fritzler and City Manager Kevin Baity refer to the two TIF districts as established rather than proposed in their State of the City speeches.  Neither has been approved by council yet, hence tonight's hearings), the number of people who rose to speak against TIF district #3, encompassing the old school complex, the National Guard Armory and the stretch of Oakland between the two, surprised me. Almost all were concerned with business encroaching into what is currently an area zoned for residential use.  Baity pointed out the area would have to be rezoned in order for a purchaser to make any business use of the properties.

This, of course, leads to two quetsions:

1. Why is Oakland Avenue Auto Repair still operating in an area zoned for residential use?
2.  What use could any purchaser make of either the Armory or high school buildings unless they are rezoned or granted a special use exemption?  Neither is suitable for residential use as they stand.

The proposal to move appointment of the city clerk back under the city manager passed with only one vote against it.  The major concern appeared that the clerk's position was important enough that the holder of the position should come directly under council control.  However, the rest of the council did not share the same concerns.

The request for more funds for the Convention and Tourism Bureau passed without any controversy. Since I sit on the CCTB board, I will pass on making any further comments.

Next up was a revision to Carbondale's panhandling ordinance banning unlawful panhandling on an business zoned property or any public property.  Two groups spoke regarding the ordinance.   One, business owners and organizations representing them argued that aggressive panhandlers affected business, disturbed customers and made employees feel unsafe. The other, community organizers and activists, argued that the ordinance would made it harder for the homeless and others living in poverty to get money for food and shelter.  Councilman Don Monty pointed out that the ordinance had no effect upon those who stood on a corner with a sign asking for donations, it was aimed at those who asked for money multiple times after being rebuffed originally.  If memory serves, I believe this passed, after lots of discussion, six to one.

During the discussion, it gradually became apparent that there are only about a dozen or so panhandlers in Carbondale that engage in the aggressive panhandling that disturbs businesses.  A reading of the relevant ordinance indicates that aggressive panhandling of the type described during the discussion is already illegal throughout the city, so it's not apparent what effect specifying more places where one cannot unlawfully panhandle will have, since according to the current ordinance, they can't do it already.  Seems to me it would be better to enforce the current ordinance against the dozen or so abusers rather than add on to the code.

If electrical aggregation takes place as I understand it from the discussion over the ordinance and we see the savings alluded to by councilmen Chris Wissmann and Don Monty, this should prove a winning proposition for the city and its residents.  From what I understand, Carbondale, along with Marion, West Frankfort and other communities, selected Select Energy Partners  to negotiate an price for electricity with a supplier.  Once a contract is negotiated, Carbondale will have to purchase from that supplier but could choose a different plan than other communities, i.e. Marion could select a plan that draws 10% of its electricity from green sources while Carbondale could choose one that drew 25%.  Carbondale residents will have the option to opt out, on an individual basis, of the negotiated contract and remain with their current (or another) provider.  This passed unaimously.

Finally, council voted to join the Southern Illinois Municipal Planning Organization, which includes all communities from Carbondale eastward to Marion.  The organization will focus on analyzing transportation needs for the area and federal law, dating back to the 1960s, mandates that municipalities must form one once the region's population exceeds 50,000 or forgo federal transportation dollars. Since we don't want to forgo federal transportation dollars, we join, unanimously.

Since it was now 11:30, I decide to skip citizen and council comments, though I did notice council candidates Jessica Bradshaw and Carolin Harvey still in the audience with Pepper Holder approaching the microphone as I left.

Rezoning

From what I understand, the status of the National Guard Armory is still up in the air, with no new bids or sale of the property announced.  However, it does appear that, in order for the property to be used, the city will have to rezone the property as the building date in the late 1930s predated any city zoning and ensured  the city grandfathered it in when the city originally zoned the area and leaving the building zoned residential refers it useless for any purpose to which a purchaser might put it.

While the city is doing that, I would expect it will expand the rezoning to include the building housing the Oakland Avenue Auto Repair, also build before the city zoned the area  Though some in the area might not like it, that would solve the problem of the business operating in an area zoned residential, continue to make use of a building that had sat unused for several years, and keep a thriving business going. Moving the business to the closed Johnny B's Pro Lube building on the west side of town, as I have heard suggested, does not appear feasible,  due to the amount of business OAAR currently does.  A look inside the shop doors at any time of day shows 3-6 cars undergoing repair, more than the Johnny B's facility would hold.

Oakland Avenue Auto Shop

Does not appear to be any movement on this.  There is no sign the business plans to move.  The business is still open and doing quite well apparently with anywhere from 2 to 6 cars under repair, or at least inside the building, at any given time.  I inquired about the status of the business at city hall a week ago and it appears that determining if it needs to move because of improper zoning is currently in a holding pattern.

Oakland Ave. Auto Repair

No sign yet that Oakland Ave. Auto Repair has any plans to move as the shop was directed to do in the letter sent by then Assistant City Manager Kevin Baity last November.  Quite likely they won't either, as the majority of the city council has shown little to no interest in pursuing the matter further.

From the city's viewpoint, I can certainly see why.  The warehouse nee' auto storage facility has sat empty for several years now, gradually deteriorating like many other larger unoccupied buildings in Carbondale (Animal Crackers, Tuscan Lodge, Peerless Linens to name a few).  Now the owners have fixed it up and the repair shop does decent business,generating some sales tax revenue for the city..  I pass the location a couple of times a week and always see a couple of cars inside undergoing repairs.

Also, when Home Rentals sought permission to lease the space to the repair shop, the city gave it, wrongly as it turns out.  Home Rentals, which has proven fairly dogged in its dealings with the city over the years, could validly claim that the company made substantial investments in the building in good faith and take the city to court should the city decide to pursue the movement order.  I'm not a lawyer so have no idea how that would shake out legally, but it certainly seems reasonable from a lay point of view.  Home Rentals, as one of the largest landlords in town, certainly has the money to pursue a legal option, likely moreso than one of the residents of the area, who might want to take action against the city for allowing the business to open up in an area not zoned for it.