Editorial: Ordinance change could sell city hall

Belleville Councilman Tom Fielder said if the council passes the new zoning ordinance amendment it would enhance the “saleability” of city hall.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved the word changes and sent the amended ordinance to the planning consultant to put it into its final format. It is expected to be approved at the Jan. 17 meeting.
The move to step back from requiring two-story buildings in the downtown B-2 district came after Davenport Brothers said they wanted to build on the vacant site at 337 Main Street – and they wanted to build a single-story building.
Fielder said the move to allow single-story buildings to be built downtown is not a “single issue … It’s a 10-year evaluation that maybe we need to do something different.”
Fielder said the city has been putting money into the city hall building that “is not useable by anyone but us.” He said the appraiser said there is value to the city hall site for a one-story building.
In the past, Fielder had said businesses looking at the prime site at 5 Points backed off after learning a two-story building was required.
Jeff Vernon said from the audience that for the past three years Fielder talked about selling city hall every December, but this year he delayed until January. Vernon asked if the city had someplace to move.
“We own property,” Mayor Conley replied without further comment.