The Normal Town Council approved an amendment to various sections of the town zoning code, excluding a restriction on home-based businesses.
The zoning amendment was approved with that language removed from the text, voted on as part of Monday's regular town council meeting. The remaining rules were pertaining to building heights, the brightness of animated signs, off-street parking and battery energy storage systems.
The original amendment amended code to ban home occupations from allowing customers to come to their home in town. It would have required any business to instead be done off-site, by phone, mail, electronic communication or other ways to do so outside of a dwelling.
“We're going to go forward with getting more input,” said Normal Mayor Chris Koos. “We may ask a couple of you who are more businesses to help us craft that. We'll look at other communities for best practices on that.”
A pair spoke during public comment to speak about their own businesses or other businesses they know of that would have been affected had the removed measure been enacted.
“Running a home-based business gives me the ability to care for my family and help my aging parents who live down the street,” said Kristy Mullins, owner of a home-based quilting business in Normal. “Renting commercial space large enough for my equipment isn't financially practical, nor does it afford me the flexibility that drove my decision to start the business in the first place.”
7 Brew
The town council approved a proposal to build a 7 Brew drive-through coffee shop location in Normal.
The coffee shop would be in the southwest corner of the parking lot at 1700 E. College Ave. Other business tenants at that location include Five Guys, Petco and Office Depot. Recent additions include Dave’s Hot Chicken and Daiso.
The town’s comprehensive plan encourages infill development like the 7 Brew location because it avoids the installation of new hard surfaces, reduces sprawl and maintains a more efficient transportation network than building on new ground.
The 7 Brew would be the first location in Bloomington-Normal. There are three locations in Champaign-Urbana and two in Decatur. The Arkansas-based chain of drive-thru coffee shops has a presence in 38 states.
Landscape waste
The town council also authorized a $65,230 contract with Hohulin Fence for new fencing at the public works landscape waste dropoff site. The unstaffed site at 1301 Warriner St. is intended for use by town residents only, as well as Illinois State University and Unit 5 via agreements.
The fencing would ensure the compost steam generated by the dropoff site remains free of contamination. Town staff have observed a “significant” increase in contamination at the site over the past several years. This contamination includes regular household garbage, hazardous materials, plastics and other bags, concrete, brick and other masonry, various metals and large quantities of brush and tree limbs.
“Historically our landscapers collection, where people can drop off at our public works facility, has frankly operated on the honor system, and that is not working anymore,” said Pam Reece, city manager.
The fencing, with a controlled-access gate, is intended to cut down on this contamination of the compost, which is sent to the ISU Farm in Lexington after collection. Reece added the move makes Normal’s operations more similar to the City of Bloomington.
Disaster extension
Separate from the meeting, Koos approved a 48-hour extension to the town’s emergency declaration.
Reece said in the four days since the microburst and storm that hit Bloomington-Normal, it had collected 8,500 cubic yards of brush. Over the entire month of April, when McLean County was hit with six tornadoes, there was 9,900 cubic yards. In June, when there was another round of severe weather, it was 7,100 cubic yards.
The Bloomington City Council also voted to extend its disaster declarations by 30 days Monday.
Construction contracts
The Normal Town Council also approved two construction contracts Monday.
One was to award a $164,899 contract to H.J. Eppel Co. for the Constitution Trail repaving project: 7,485 linear feet of surface from the Collegiate Branch, from the south entrance of Fairview Park at Adelaide Street to the Heartland Community College at Millennium Boulevard. Parks and Recreation’s capital investment budget has an allotment of funds each year for ongoing trail maintenance.
The other was a $349,100 contract with GIVSCO Construction of Pekin for updates and repairs to the town Public Works Department building. Heavily used areas like the men’s locker room, main hallways, offices and the break room have shown wear and tear since the building was most recently expanded in 2011. The project will modernize these spaces with flooring, wall, lighting, ceiling and fixture upgrades as well as kitchen cabinetry and countertops.
GIVSCO’s bid was the lowest of five bids.
