Plan Commission Regular Meeting

May 21, 2026 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING APPROVED URBANA PLAN COMMISSION DATE: May 21, 2026 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: Council Chambers, City Hall, 400 South Vine Street, Urbana, Illinois MEMBERS ATTENDING: Andrew Fell, Klayton Matlock, Bill Rose MEMBERS EXCUSED: Dustin Allred, Will Andresen STAFF PRESENT: Evan Alvarez, Principal Planner; Kate Himick, Planner I; Teri Andel, Administrative Assistant II OTHERS PRESENT: Anicet Kori, Nathalie Kori Nkenlifack A. CALL TO ORDER and ROLL CALL Andrew Fell agreed to serve as Acting Chair in the absence of Dustin Allred. Acting Chair Fell called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum of the members was present. B. CHANGES TO THE AGENDA There were none. C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING Minutes of April 16, 2026 Regular Meeting The minutes of April 16, 2026 regular meeting were presented to the Plan Commission. Mr. Rose moved that the Plan Commission approve the minutes as written. Mr. Matlock seconded the motion. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Minutes of May 7, 2026 Regular Meeting The minutes of May 7, 2026 regular meeting were presented to the Plan Commission. Mr. Rose requested a simple modification to the minutes on Page 10, 8th Paragraph, 2nd Sentence. It should read as such, “We The Plan Commission can bring our their own judgment to the staff’s recommended position on this,. but I just wanted to say that He stated the two criteria in red have a peculiar instance in this case that he does not think reflects poorly on the project.”. Page 1  May 21, 2026 Mr. Matlock moved that the Plan Commission approve the minutes as amended. Mr. Rose seconded the motion. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. D. COMMUNICATIONS There were none. E. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS There were none. F. OLD BUSINESS There was none. G. NEW PUBLIC HEARING Plan Case No. 2522-SU-26 – A request by Nathalie Kori Nkenlifack, operator of Dei Gracia Healthcare, for a Special Use Permit to allow a medical clinic at 909 North Cunningham Avenue in the B-3 (General Business) Zoning District. Acting Chair Fell opened the public hearing for Plan Case No. 2522-SU-26. He reviewed the procedures for a public hearing. Kate Himick, Planner I, presented Plan Case No. 2522-SU-26 to the Plan Commission. She began by stating the purpose for the proposed Special Use Permit. She gave a brief background on the history of the subject property and noted the existing land use, zoning, place type, and proposed use of the property and of the surrounding, adjacent properties. She talked about the proposed use and how it relates to Big Move 10, Little Move 10.2, and Little Move 10.4 of the Imagine Urbana Comprehensive Plan. She reviewed the requirements for a Special Use Permit according to Section VII-4.A of the Urbana Zoning Ordinance. She stated the Summary of Findings and read the options of the Plan Commission. She presented City staff’s recommendation that the Plan Commission recommend approval of the proposed Special Use Permit in Plan Case No. 2522-SU- 26 with no conditions and that the recommended Special Use Permit be tied to the land rather than specific to Suite A. Acting Chair Fell asked if any members of the Plan Commission had questions for City staff. Mr. Rose asked if the applicant is the owner or a renter. Ms. Himick replied that the applicant is a renter. The Zoning Ordinance specifies that if the applicant is not the owner of the land that the owner provides express written permission, which staff has obtained from Cunningham Motor Sales Inc., who is the owner. She added that staff recommend that the Special Use Permit recommendation to City Council be tied to the entire parcel rather than the individual suite. The reason is to keep the Special Use Permit tied to an actual parcel of land rather than a chunk of a building, which would be hard to regulate and possibly too restrictive. Mr. Rose asked if the City approves the proposed Special Use Permit, then the only use allowed would be the medical clinic and not the other uses allowed with approval of a Special Use Permit in the B-3 Zoning District. Ms. Himick said that is correct. Any other uses that require approval of a Special Use Permit would be required to apply for one. Page 2  May 21, 2026 Mr. Rose asked for clarification on the reason staff is requesting that the Special Use Permit applies to the entire parcel. Ms. Himick explained that it is because the applicant may want to move to a different suite or may want to expand when another suite becomes available. Mr. Rose stated that he feels the recommendation should also mention that the Special Use Permit applies only to the health clinic use. Ms. Himick stated that the Special Use Permit would only be tied to the proposed medical clinic use in this case. Acting Chair Fell asked if another medical clinic business that wanted to set up in another suite would be covered by the proposed Special Use Permit if the City ties this request to the entire parcel. Ms. Himick said yes, that is correct. Acting Chair Fell asked if the Special Use Permit would expire with the tenant or if it will stay with the building. Ms. Himick replied that the Special Use Permit would remain with the land. Acting Chair Fell asked if the applicant has already been operating a medical clinic in the subject building. Ms. Himick stated that the applicant opened Dei Gracia Healthcare in September of 2025. With there being no further questions for City staff, Acting Chair Fell opened the hearing for public input. He invited the applicant to approach the Plan Commission. Nathalie Kori Nkenlifack approached the Plan Commission to speak. She thanked the Plan Commission for considering her request, and she thanked Ms. Himick for doing a great job in presenting the case to the Plan Commission. She explained that Champaign has resources like Public Health and Frances Nelson and wanted to build something similar in Urbana. She explained that she provides healthcare and psychiatric care to community members. Their goal is not to make money because they can make money through insurance, but they are doing this because their goal is to help people. She talked about her life growing up in Cameroon in Central Africa. Her stepmom was a nurse, and she saw how her stepmom helped people, so her goal became helping people. She talked about her education and career in the medical field. Now, she has a full practice and can take all of her patients from medical to psych. She no longer needs to refer her patients to others or have a doctor supervise her. She mentioned that if she needs assistance, she has colleague that will come to help her. She urged the Plan Commission to approve her request for a Special Use Permit. With there being no additional input from the audience, Acting Chair Fell closed the public input portion of the hearing and opened it for Plan Commission discussion and/or motion(s). Acting Chair Fell stated that he originally had two concerns about this request. The first one is if this would be a use trying to go into a building where it would be incongruous with other tenants of the building. Now, he does not believe that would be the case. He believes medical use would be appropriate for the other uses in the existing building. His second concern was if the applicant was suggesting the medical clinic in a location where it would not be directly serving the people that it intends to serve, but now he feels it is. He stated that he believes it is the most appropriate use in the most appropriate place. Page 3  May 21, 2026 Mr. Rose moved that the Plan Commission recommend approval of the Special Use Permit for a medical clinic in Plan Case No. 2522-SU-26 to City Council with no conditions and that the recommended Special Use Permit be tied to the land rather than specific to Suite A. Mr. Matlock seconded the motion. Roll call on the motion was as follows: Mr. Fell - Yes Mr. Rose - Yes Mr. Matlock - Yes The motion was approved by unanimous vote 3-0. Mr. Alvarez stated that Plan Case No. 2522-SU-26 would be forwarded to Committee of the Whole on June 1, 2026. H. NEW BUSINESS There was none. I. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION There was none. J. STAFF REPORT Mr. Alvarez reported on the following:  Parking Over People Act  Act was passed on December 16, 2025 and goes into effect on June 1, 2026  “Section 5-10. Minimum automobile parking requirements prohibited. Except as otherwise provided in Section 5-15, a unit of local government may not impose or enforce any minimum automobile parking requirements on a development project if the project is located within one-half mile of a public transportation hub or one-eighth mile of a public transportation corridor.”  Definition – “Public Transportation Corridor” is defined as a street on which one or more bus routes have a combined frequency of bus service interval of 15 minutes or less during the morning and afternoon peak commute periods.” Definition – “Public Transportation Hub” is an intersection of two or more bus routes with a combined frequency of bus service interval of 15 minutes or less.  Map Showing Areas that are affected by the Parking Over People Act – He noted that the areas in purple reflect the areas that are affected by this Act and pointed out how often MTD buses run down certain streets and where hubs are located. He asked if the City of Urbana could mitigate these types of issues when they occur in Urbana. Acting Chair Fell mentioned that the City of Champaign has removed many of their parking requirements already, and as a result, it has created some problems, especially for delivery drivers having to park on the street because there is no other place to park or for students moving in and out at the beginning and end of the school year. Can the City of Urbana Page 4  May 21, 2026 mitigate these kinds of issues? Mr. Alvarez replied that if a vehicle is parked in the street multiple times, then any traffic violation(s) would still be in effect and enforceable by the Police. Mr. Rose asked if there are any actions that City staff is considering taking as a consequence of this Act. Mr. Alvarez replied yes. He reviewed the Next Steps, which are to create a text amendment to the Urbana Zoning Ordinance that will come before the Plan Commission at the June 18, 2026 regular meeting. Staff plan to administratively monitor in the meantime to ensure compliance with both state law and the Zoning Ordinance. He pointed out that any development that is started or was approved with parking before June 1, 2026 will not change. This only effects new development after June 1, 2026.  Staff Update on Previous Cases – He mentioned that Planning staff will be providing updates on previous cases at future meetings. K. STUDY SESSION There was none. L. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:39 pm. Respectfully submitted, Evan Alvarez, Secretary Urbana Plan Commission Page 5