Proposed Change in Champaign County Zoning Rules Could Help Wilber Hts Homeowners

Residents of the Wilber Heights subdivision are barred by zoning rules from making major house repairs and renovations, because the area is zoned for industry, not homes. Now, the Champaign County Zoning Board of Appeals will consider a change in zoning rules that would allow work on such "non-conforming dwellings" to go ahead.

The proposal was put together at the county board's request by Planning and Zoning Director John Hall. County Board member Stan James (R-Rantoul) said allowing major work on the non-conforming houses will provide relief for the remaining homeowners in Wilber Heights.

"And John's trying to provide some relief so those folks now there can add on and enjoy the homes they do have, with the knowledge that it may come down in the future that even by doing that, it's not going to increase their value much," James said. "Because if it stays Light Industrial, eventually all that will be bought up."

Under the proposal, non-conforming dwellings in Wilber Heights and other parts of the county could receive major repairs and even be enlarged. Garages and other accessory buildings could also be enlarged. Currently, repairs and renovations are barred if they take up more then 10 percent of a building's total area. James said he thinks the residents may be entitled to additional compensation, but believes the zoning change is a good start.

Wilber Heights is located east of the Market Place Mall, in an unincorporated area just outside of the city of Champaign. It contains a mix of industrial and residential development. First built as housing for employees of the nearby Clifford-Jacobs Forging Company plant, Wilber Heights was rezoned all industrial by the Champaign County Board in 1973, with the assumption that the homes would eventually be torn down. But dozens of them are still occupied today.

County Board member James said he thinks the residents of Wilber Heights may be entitled to additional compensation for the burden placed on them by the 1973 zoning change. But he said the proposal to allow greater home repairs and renovation is a good start.

The proposed change in zoning rules will get its first hearing before the Champaign County Zoning Board of Appeals on at its regular meeting, Thursday, January 6th, beginning at 6:30 PM, at the Brookens Center in Urbana. Planning & Zoning Director Hall says he hopes the measure can receive county board approval this spring.