Effingham approves request to rezone property for new SBL facility

Dec. 26—Sarah Bush Lincoln can move forward with plans for a new facility on North Maple Street in Effingham, but the city has placed some conditions on the development of the property in response to some concerns voiced by nearby residents.

During a meeting on Dec. 19, the Effingham City Council unanimously approved a request from Sarah Bush Lincoln to rezone an approximately 12-acre property located south of Holiday Drive, between North Maple and Penguin streets, from R-2 Single-Family Residence District to R-3D Multiple-Dwelling District and grant two special use permits.

The rezoning of the property and special use permits will allow Sarah Bush Lincoln to build retail pharmacy and medical offices there.

Planning is still ongoing, but it is expected to include a 20,000-30,000 square foot building.

Council members approved the request on the conditions that the property not be used in the future for residential development, adequate buffering be included around the property per the recommendations of the city's engineer and access to the property from Penguin Street, Pelican Street and Eden Drive be restricted.

Prior to voting on the matter, the council heard from Effingham City Planner Greg Koester, who discussed Sarah Bush Lincoln's various requests and some of the concerns that were raised by some residents who live near the property during the Effingham plan Commission's meeting earlier this month.

"The majority of the traffic would be on Maple Street," Koester said. "Yes, it would generate more traffic, but the traffic would be during the 8-5 hours and very little in the evening or at night."

Additionally, Koester noted that the plan commission was presented with a petition opposing the proposed development of the property, which was signed by 128 residents. The commission voted 5-3 to recommend the approval of the request.

The director of facilities for Sarah Bush Lincoln, Tim Kastl, told the council why Sarah bush Lincoln is looking to build the new facility.

"We're looking to develop that area and add a building there for clinic space and pharmacy space," Kastl said.

The pharmacy will also allow Sarah bush Lincoln to provide local employees with discounts, something that Sarah Bush Lincoln already does with its pharmacy in Mattoon.

Kastl said he and others involved in planning for the facility are willing to work with the community as they move forward with the development of the property to ensure that it doesn't become an inconvenience for residents.

"We want to work with the community," Kastl said. "We want to work with the neighbors. We want this project to be a success."

Agracel President Ryan Witges also went before the council to ask members to approve the petition before they voted on the matter.

Agracel is the owner of Effingham Medical Park, which already includes several other properties in the area.

"In our 20+ years of ownership of this property, we had a vision that this be developed as medical property," Witges said.

Before voting in favor of the request, Effingham City Commissioner Hank Stephen said he supports the development of the property for medical use.

"To me this is totally in keeping with what the vision was at that time when Maple Street was constructed," Stephen said.

Also speaking in support of the request, Effingham City Commissioner Larry Micenheimer called Sarah Bush Lincoln's proposal a "progressive plan" for the use of the property.

"We really appreciate Sarah Bush's footprint in our community, and it continues to grow," Micenheimer said.

Also during the meeting, the council heard a presentation from Zach Lowe of Development Planning Partners, who shared some key insights made by the consulting group and the 1861 Group following a study they conducted to help the city decide how to spend the $75,000 in Research in Illinois to Spur Economic Recovery (RISE) funds it's receiving from the state of Illinois.

Lowe said the city's ongoing housing shortage is a "significant economic challenge within the city" which is conflicting with the city's economic growth, particularly when it comes to providing adequate and affordable housing for the city's growing workforce.

"The goal of our assignment was therefore to analyze the city's housing market, the overall economy, to identify challenges and barriers to growth and to advance strategies for the targeted expansion of housing supply and the breaking down of barriers to workforce development," Lowe said.

"Also, we found that 98% of rental units are occupied currently," Lowe said.

According to Lowe, this number is closer to 94-95% in a balanced market.

Effingham City Administrator Steve Miller said the data will give the city a better idea of how to best address the issues it reveals.

"The data was very good," Miller said. "That kind of gives us a path to move forward for the additional housing that we're going to need in the next decade."

Commissioners also said they found the information and data presented to be quite helpful.

"There's a lot of great information," Stephen said. "This is a good blueprint for us in terms of where we need to go to start addressing some of these.

"We can pull this off," Micenheimer said.

In other matters, Effingham Police Chief Jason McFarland presented Officer Brittany Lowery with a Lifesaving Award and a Special Act Award for administering Narcan to someone she found overdosing in June.

"Your actions that day resulted in saving the life of a citizen experiencing crisis," McFarland said.

Lowery was also honored for her time spent mentoring at-risk youth.

In other matters, the council:

—Approved annual treasurer's reports for fiscal year 2022 and 2023.

—Approved financial statements for fiscal year 2023.

—Adopted an ordinance implementing the Illinois Paid Leave for All Workers Act into the city's municipal code.

—Authorized the addition of two stop signs on Cardinal Dr. where the road intersects with North Oceola St.

—Authorized the acquisition of a temporary use permit and the purchase of an easement from Elvan D. Wallace and Carolyn Wallace at 404 South Henrietta St. for the sum of $3,371 for utility purposes.

—Authorized the execution of a proposal with Civil Design, Inc. in the total amount of $28,800, which will be paid for with the city's Sewer Fund, for the Fayette Ave. Sewer Main Project

—Authorized the execution of a proposal with Santec in the amount of $36,460, which will be paid for with the city's Sewer Fund, for a sewer rate study.

—Approved a certificate of project completion and release of bonding for the city's 2023 Sidewalk Replacement Program which was completed by Esker and Walker for a total cost of $185,534.

—Approved a certificate of project completion and release of bonding for the city's 2022-23 Sewer Relining Project which was completed by Visu-Sewer for a total cost of $399,074.

—Approved a final change order from Visu-Sewer decreasing the cost of the city's contract for its 2022-23 Sewer Relining Project by $89,573.

—Approved a final change order from Feutz Contractors, Inc. decreasing the cost of the city's contract for the second phase of the Rickleman Ave. construction project by $18,612.

—Awarded a contract to McCarthy Improvements in the amount of $761,565 for the city's Henrietta St. Water Main Relocation Project, and half of the project cost will be reimbursed by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

—Awarded a contract to B&T Drainage in the amount of $941,339 for the city's Fayette Ave. Sanitary Sewer Main Replacement Project, and 100% of the project cost will be reimbursed by the Illinois Department of transportation.

—Approved a change order from Wente Plumbing and Fire Protection for domestic service line and back-flow preventer work in the amount of $20,739.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.