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Lee County reports progress on abandoned properties; developer plans 10–20 apartments for former school
Summary
County staff described work under a Strong Communities grant on nuisance properties, including negotiations with Amboy and Dixon, a developer plan to convert a former school into 10–20 apartments, and continued work on an abandoned nursing home; the county recently hired a building official and is drafting zoning/building code changes.
Jeremy, county staff, gave the Public Safety Committee an update on abandoned and nuisance properties and the Strong Communities grant work across Lee County.
"We need to start wrapping that up by the end of the year," Jeremy said of the Strong Communities grant program. He said staff are working with Amboy and the city of Dixon on a number of properties and have met with Amboy's attorney to provide required documentation.
On one property referred to as the lease center school, Jeremy said a developer is working to "turn that into 10 to 20 units for mid to high level apartments, which is vastly needed within our area." He described that project as part of ongoing efforts to close the county's housing gap.
Jeremy also discussed two other long-standing properties: Aldena School, which he said was recently purchased by a local group that operates a small business in DeKalb and plans to use the school's main corridor as shop and distribution space after removing some wings; and Aldina Infirmary (referred to in the meeting as Aldina Nursing Home), an abandoned nursing home where the county is communicating with owners who do not live in Lee County and has posted violations under the county health and nuisance codes.
"We are currently working with the owners that do not live in Lee County on trying to figure out, what their future intentions are of the property," Jeremy said. He added staff have identified several residential properties in unincorporated Lee County that could be next in line for remediation if certain partner-community projects fall through.
Jeremy said the county recently hired a building official, Joe Bay, from the city of Dixon and that the county plans to develop zoning and building code language to give zoning and building staff authority to enforce nuisance conditions in addition to the health code.
No formal votes were taken during the update; Jeremy characterized the meeting as progress reports and next steps for county staff.
