Citizens protest city ordinances
Champaign City residents came together last night to protest the city councils plans to vacate the alley property north of Bellefontaine, between Walnut and Champaign streets, to the local residents between which the alley sits.
The proposed city ordinance was developed in conjunction with 3 other ordinances to eliminate the city burden of having to maintain properties -- in this case the alleys -- which it no longer uses or has a use for.
The issue sparked a lively hour long debate between both the council members and the citizens, about whether to approve it or not.
Citizens approached the podium with concern about what would happen if the property were released into the care of the neighbors as additions on to their land.
It was said by one elderly resident that there is already a neighbor who uses the back alley to park his car and his boat on a regular basis, preventing access of those who enjoy walking the path at the southbound end. This reoccurring incident, said the concern resident, acted as an indicator as to what would happen to the property once it was vacated by the city.
All of the citizens except one were looking to keep the alleyway unchanged except one.
During the meeting, the council members posed countless hypothetical situations referring to what could be done to the property, ranging for putting a gravel drive way to a garage in the back of their houses to placing fences blocking the property.
Responses to the questions were answered by City Attorney, Fred Stavins, who said that the citizens would be able to do anything they wished with the property once the vacation ordinances from the city were enacted.
The discussion was ended by City Manager, Steven Carter, by recommending that situation between Walnut and Champaign streets be further investigated because it turned out to be a more confusing issue then it had first seemed.