Images of Wilber Heights

A rusty sign on the corner of Second Street and Wallace Avenue.

Tom Lemke and his wife Velma pose on the stairs of their home in March 2010.

Many homes flood after heavy rain. Some neighbors make their own drainage systems to keep water out.

Lifelong resident Tom Lemke shows a photo of his wife and child from forty years ago.

John Hall, the current Champaign County Planning and Zoning Director, agrees that the zoning ordinance is a problem in Wilber Heights.

Wilber Avenue and Fifth Street mark the end of the neighborhood.

Longtime neighbors Susie Roderick and Tom Lemke speak as part of a group interview in March, 2010.

Wilber Heights Timeline

1928 - Established as a single family residential development.

(Residences were built before zoning was established.)

1961 - Zoning ordinance states that single family residences were made nonconforming, but mobile homes were permitted.

1973 - County zones western 3/4th of area I-1, Light Industrial and eastern 1/4th I-2, Heavy Industry following pattern established by City of Champaign

1977 - The zoning of the Wilber Heights neighborhood was reconsidered in a Zoning Map Amendment Case (236-AM-77). It sought to rezone the entire neighborhood to R-2, Single Family Residence. The 1977 rezoning was denied due to its impact on the numerous commercial and industrial uses in the neighborhood by rendering them nonconforming.

5-9-1977 - The Eastern Prairie Fire Department petitions the Planning and Zoning Committee to change status of Wilbur Heights to R-2 (Residential). It was denied on all counts.

County briefly considers and subsequently abandones and effort to find a third alternative by creating a "Transition to Industrial" zoning district. It would have legalized all existing uses in the area.

1991 - Frank DiNovo proposes an "limited interim measure which would enhance the use value of residential property in Wilber Heights without substantially contributing to the survival of the existing nonconforming uses." That measure fails.

2010 - No changes have been made to the ordinance. All homes are still deemed "non-conforming."

Wilber Heights Fact Sheet

- Though many residents spell the neighborhood "Wilbur" Heights, a newspaper article from 1961 shows that the correct spelling is "Wilber" Heights. An error in signage when the neighborhood was incorporated caused the confusion.

- According to neighbors (no official calculation has been tabulated), the neighborhood started off with 120 homes. Now, there sit less than 40. A handful of which are uninhabited.

- The neighborhood is now home to a forging plant, a recycling plant, a porta-potty company, a concrete plant and a few car-repair shops.

- All homes in Wilber Heights are deemed "non-conforming" and zoned "light-industrial" in use.

- Residents cannot expand upon more than 10% of their homes.

- Because of the ordinance, if a fire were to destroy a home, the homeowner could not rebuild a home on their lot.

- Residents may undertake interior remodeling and maintenance of their homes includig replacing of heating, plumbing and electrical systems, re-roofing and making interior structural modifications.

- The inability to fully expand and renovate a home means that homeowners are unlikely to realize market value of their property.