The Streator City Council has officially rejected a proposal to rezone 110 W. Morrell St. to allow a duplex, officially siding with the Streator Plan Commission and nearby residents who opposed the change.

During their meeting on Wednesday night, council members voted down the request without discussion from Baltazar Rentals LLC in Aurora, who sought to rezone the property from single-family to multifamily use in order to restore its former duplex setup.

During their meeting last week, the plan commission had unanimously recommended denial, noting the property is no longer legally allowed as a multi-unit residence since it was converted to a single-family home in 2004.

City staff warned that rezoning the property could create a “spot zone,” as all surrounding homes are zoned for single-family use.

Several neighbors objected to the proposal at the commission’s public hearing, submitting a petition with 13 signatures and citing concerns about parking congestion across from Streator High School and about absentee ownership.

“I don’t want to wake up and find a halfway house or boarding house across the street one day,” nearby resident Gayle Biroschik told commission members last week, adding that neighbors feared a zoning change could open the door to other high-density or special-use facilities.

The council denied the request without discussion. With the council’s vote, the property will remain single-family - limiting future multi-unit development on Morrell Street in the future.