Downtown Re-zoned

There were no comments offered during the two public hearings that took place in the first three minutes of the August meeting of the Willow Springs Board of Aldermen Thursday. The hearings were on the subject of re-zoning sections of the downtown area.

Passing a pair of ordinances unanimously, the Board restricted the B-1 Central Business District and also added storage units to the list of permitted uses in the B-2 Highway Business zone. The B-1 zone is now the area from Summit to N. Cherry St. and ends in the alley between Main and First Streets. The northern border remained unchanged. 

The changes are pursuant to the recommendation of the Planning and Zoning Board, which met on July 26.

These actions are the first in a larger project to re-zone business districts into three tiers due in large part to the development boom at the South Junction, said City Administrator Beverly Hicks. 

"This is the beginning of making those changes," Hicks explained. "We want to preserve our downtown the way it is."

Thursday's actions also corrected zoning for First Street businesses that have been in operation for years, she said.