Want a deal? Download this app now

If you’d like to keep up with what’s happening in the Heights, including getting some pocket-friendly deals along the way, the Peoria Heights Chamber of Commerce has a new mobile app available for free download.

“We kind of came up with this idea because we’d been approached by several local businesses struggling with marketing outreach,” said Steven Cook, the Chamber Board president. Many were spending a fair amount of money on Facebook ads regarding special events, sales, loyalty rewards, etc., and “not getting anywhere with it,” he said.

Chamber officials looked around and noticed that many metropolitan areas have tourism apps centered around local businesses, said Cook, who thought the Heights was particularly well situated to get one of its own, especially with its active dining scene bringing so many people to the community. The app not only seeks to connect residents and visitors with local businesses, it also helps keep people up to date on community news and events including those at Tower Park, serves as a guide to amenities such as the Village’s abundant hiking and biking trails, and links the locals to Village government services and announcements, he said.

The Peoria Heights Mobile App is a collaborative effort between the Chamber and the Village of Peoria Heights, which put $30,000 toward its development by Peoria-based Swarm Digital Solutions. It was launched at the end of May and within a week or so already had more than 700 downloads from as far away as Portugal, said Heights Trustee Elizabeth Khazzam. The app is available at the Apple App and Google Play stores.

The app uses “geofencing technology,” which establishes a virtual boundary around a real-world geographic area, said Cook. By tapping into the likes of GPS, Wi-Fi or other cellular data, the system can determine when a connected device such as a cell phone crosses into a specific neighborhood, triggering its activation. It’s a great way for businesses to provide incentives to potential customers – say, with the offer of a free appetizer with the purchase of a couple entrées or whatever – and one more reason for those patrons to stop on by, and perhaps stay a little longer, said Cook.

“We’ve far exceeded our expectations” so far, said Cook. “It’s fantastic.”

Meanwhile, in another plus, the Chamber has partnered with Peoria Heights High School to give up to eight students real-world work experience as they deal with certain aspects of app management and maintenance, regularly interact with business owners, contend with digital content, recruit future customers and get paid for all of it, said Cook. The work follows three months of pretty extensive training. A private donation is covering it all.

“They’ll be far more prepared for careers when they hit the work force” full-time someday, said Cook. “These kids have absolutely killed it. They’ve done an amazing job so far.”

Smaller office/retail project to move forward on Prospect

Developers have downsized the project to be constructed on the former Save a Lot grocery block, 4425 N. Prospect Road, going from three to two stories.

While the mixed-use building will move forward, the decision prompted debate around the Village Board table as to whether it constituted a “material change” that should require starting over with the approval process including a return to the Zoning Board.

Trustee Nate Steinwedel raised the issue at the Board’s May 19 meeting and said the building’s height was a significant factor for the Board in approving an amended site plan back in February. Steinwedel was the lone dissenter in that 5-1 vote, arguing that the placement of the building on the lot didn’t fit with the more “walkable” aspects of the rest of the Village’s downtown, but this latest evolution goes beyond that, affecting the scale of the project and its economic impact, he said.

As such it rises “above a minor adjustment,” said Steinwedel. “This is not merely an architectural tweak.

“The concern is the process.”

“We were showed a three-story building, and we’re now being asked to accept a two-story building … Whether or not that change ultimately violates our code, I feel is a matter of interpretation, but there is no question it materially changes the project that was presented to the public and approved by this Board,” added Trustee Sarah DeVore.

“The project that was presented to us at that time is not the same project being discussed today. Had the current, two-story design been proposed originally … I cannot say with confidence my vote would be the same.”

Nonetheless, Village Attorney Mark Walton advised the Board that its zoning code contains no definition of what constitutes a “material change” that would trigger a return for review and reapproval. While the Village could address that issue with the zoning code update currently underway, there is a balance between creating a simpler process for developers with fewer hoops to jump through and a more complicated code that protects the Village to the fullest extent, he said. In addition, the Village has little staff to implement its zoning regulations, unlike the City of Peoria, which has a large department, said Walton.

That was the tack taken by Mayor Matt Wigginton, who had earlier argued that the Village should want to retain its reputation as being business-friendly. Meanwhile, the footprint of the building is not changing and its placement on the property remains the same, he said in defending the developer.

Meanwhile, the timing is problematic, as the development including demolition of the previous building and removal of the debris is well underway.

Nonetheless, “our code needs future improvement so future boards are not placed in the same position,” said DeVore, who urged her colleagues not to let the topic fall by the wayside.

“I am development friendly and I want to see investment continue in Peoria Heights. However, our responsibility is not to developers but to the residents who have elected me and us, to ensure the process we established is fair, transparent, and consistently followed. Supporting development and protecting the interests of our residents should not be mutually exclusive goals.”

While trustees also expressed some frustration with a lack of timely information about the change, they agreed that the fault was not with the developer and that it wasn’t worth spending taxpayer dollars on potential future litigation.

Ultimately, they voted 5-0 – with Trustee Brandon Wisenburg absent – to approve a tax increment financing (TIF) agreement with the developers that has the Village reimbursing the latter for up to $2.5 million in TIF-eligible expenses for the $12.5 million project, which includes ground floor commercial/retail and second floor office space. The developers have a long-term lease for the second floor, reportedly for the accounting firm CliftonLarsonAllen, which is relocating from downtown Peoria. The latter will bring some 80 full-time jobs in-house, said Cole McDaniel, the economic development consultant working with the developers.

Meanwhile, the agreement also contains incentives for the developer to fill at least part of the space with sales tax-producing businesses. If the project does $2 million in retail sales annually, the developers will receive reimbursement of 100 percent of their property tax increment. If it’s between $1 million and $2 million, they’ll get 80 percent, and if below $1 million, 60 percent. Ultimately, property taxes from that block will nearly quintuple, said McDaniel, with the school district and all other taxing bodies benefiting.

In addition, the development will create 15 on-street parking spaces that do not exist now in the Village. Space also will be made available for planting of mature trees on the property.

Construction could take up to 24 months.

At the end of the day, this project is “a win for the Village,” said Trustee Elizabeth Khazzam.